


nice to meet you

by cloudfactories



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Bittersweet Ending, Eventual Romance, M/M, Meet-Cute, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Zhong Chen Le is Whipped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27324169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudfactories/pseuds/cloudfactories
Summary: visiting his home country after a stagnant couple of years, he really didn't want to fall in love with the first stranger he saw. but to jaemin's defense, he was hot. kind. plus, he gave him a ride to his hotel.but what bugged him despite all of that, was that he would, at the end of the day, have to go home.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31
Collections: '00 FIC FEST ROUND TWO





	1. fish out of water

**Author's Note:**

> ➼ inspired by 'nice to see you' by vanshire and floor cry. would recommend playing it while you indulge further!  
> ➼ some places mentioned might not coincide or relate to the real places and some details added from my imagination, so there might be some inaccuracies!  
> ➼ all characters are among the average age of 25-28!

Jaemin took a grave sigh; his heart was at peace. Hoisted kilometers up in the air, his ears clogged and hands clutching the upholster, he leaned back against the seat. Chenle, was right beside him, curled up like a shrimp, with only whimpers escaping his mouth. He looked cute like that, only when he didn’t hit him in the middle of tossing and twisting around during his deep slumber. He had spent the earlier hour, surfing through the movies the plane provided only to sigh at the lack of preference. He switched the small monitor off and turned around to stare at Chenle’s profile for a bit.

Even though Chenle was half-way through sleeping, he could feel his eyes on him,

“Stop staring at me.”

“Sorry,” Jaemin muttered before craning back to his initial position.

The hostess arrived a while later with a cart piled up with the passengers’ breakfast. As she served them with a smile, Jaemin nodded and brushed away the offer of wine. He was full enough, seeing the generous amount of meat sandwiched between fresh and grilled beige buns. He didn’t wait long and dug in, leaving the indentation of his teeth of the sandwich. Chenle, sadly, was woken up long after as the hostess gave him a light nudge.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Jaemin shrugged, his cheeks filled to brim with food.

He could feel the basque taste dancing on his tongue as he took a bite after bite. On second thought, he shouldn't have rejected the wine, it would have gone so well with the overall deliciousness of the dish. The oiliness coated his tongue in a thick film, as he downed the tomatoes provided as a side. Once his plate was cleaned, he inched his hand to grab more of Chenle’s salad but not without a slap of his wrist.

Chenle clicked his tongue, on Jaemin’s second round of taking his food, “Please. Just mind your own business.”

“I can’t.” Jaemin quipped, “I don’t have any business to attend.” He pointed to the empty tray resting in front of him.

“Sure,” Chenle said impassively and let Jaemin take another helping. Jaemin grinned and shoved his mouth full of the bun, and picked up some tomatoes and pushed them in too. Chenle planted a finger in the air, catching the attention of the hostess. He quickly ordered a glass of wine, and as he looked sideways, seeing how Jaemin pouted with utmost feigned pity, he sighed and added another glass.

“Next time, order yours.”

“The meat was too greasy.” Jaemin excused, as his fingers scratched along the china plate. He scrunched up his lips, concentrating to scratch a scrap of stain stretched at the edge. Chenle glanced at his antics and heaved in exhaustion. Jaemin couldn’t keep his hands to himself.

The hostess arrived with two glasses of wine and a wide grin. Jaemin reciprocated the gesture with a nod and a tip of the corner of his lips. He held out the two glasses and placed Chenle’s gingerly on the latter’s tray. Jaemin then gulped his glass, bottoms up, but frantically excused it was a white wine that he was able to down it so quickly.

“You do you.” Chenle said, taking a listless bite of his meat, “How much longer are we going to be stuck here?”

“11 hours as per the ticket.”

“It was a rhetorical question. I didn’t want you to answer it, dude.”

Well, as cranky Chenle was, he lunged his hands over the armrest and gingerly linked his arms with Jaemin’s. Jaemin knew Chenle could never give up the comfort of his biceps over his moodiness. He snuggled close, rubbing his head on his cardigan like a kitten, and Jaemin it back the urge to caress the rough locks in between his fingers. Chenle was really cute, Jaemin thought, and he wanted to pinch his cheeks or tap his nose but he knew all he would get was a punch in return.

There was a lot of time to unload his thoughts among the solitary of himself and the sky that seemed to be at hands-reach. Yet, the wails of some infant, the cacophony of catering, and the hushed mumbles of the passengers ticked him off. His eyebrows were knitted in the middle, as he took the routine of the steady breathing he saw in one YouTube video. He wondered if airplanes ever stopped in the middle of the flight, among the abundance of the clouds, would it drop as fast like those men in the failed paragliding videos?

While all those unrelated, and overall meaningless thoughts circled his head like a mantra, he could feel Chenle twist his arm tighter around his. With his other hand, he softly patted Chenle’s tousled hair, as a means of placating him. It might have worked, seeing how Chenle was back to emitting soft moans under his nose.

“Cute.” He whispered to himself and reminded himself to paste a kiss on his forehead before Chenle woke up. He wondered how Chenle could sleep so peacefully in the casual riot of the enclosed airplane cabin.

Once the plane landed after the tiring hours heisted in air, Jaemin could finally take a sigh of relief. Chenle woke up mere 5 minutes before the plane landing, upon the crew announcement. _Are we landing?_ he questioned, hair disheveled and eyes unfocused. Jaemin nodded and heaved his hand up to fix the stray hair standing on his head. Chenle only knocked his hand and slapped the hair flat by himself, mumbling that he could do it.

“Whatever you say, kid.” Jaemin shrugged.

The crew announced over the whirr of the plane, the wet weather outside, time taken to reach Incheon Airport, before reciting his name and signing off. The volume of murmurs behind him increased in volumes, people talking in hushed tones, although incoherent.

His attention was tugged by the soft pitter-patter against the glass window of the airplane. The cold droplets clinging for dear life along with the acrylic material, as if greeting them from the other side. The chilliness enveloped Jaemin in an unfamiliar shudder, as his ears caught the indistinct chatter of the passengers from behind. Some notifications popped off on their phone, busy blabbering how tiring the airplane ride was but all Jaemin could think of was, if the rain foretold how the rest of the trip would be for them.

He was never the one to believe in superstitions, it would fall short of his expectations. But some, like a glass breaking or the sudden rainfall or how a hair tie would break off in his hold, would produce a weird gurgling in his stomach. However, it didn’t always mean an unlucky ordeal would always unfold in front of him, but something different, out of ordinary would occur for him. He looked forward to it, mostly.

With a tap on his shoulders, Chenle woke him up from his train of thoughts. He nodded and stood up to lift the suitcase from the upper deck. Chenle stayed glued to his window seat, eyes fixed on the rain cascading outside, skies gloomy and upset with thunders. Among a certain string of sudden French at the back, he could hear words of indistinct Korean. Well, it had been a while since he had been to Korea once he moved away to the US, but it was refreshing to hear the familiar tone after so long.

“Are we taking the subway or a taxi? I heard subways are a bit cheaper and it doesn’t smell like it does back home, so we could use a bit of fresh air.” Chenle mentioned as he weaved his way through the narrow leg space. Jaemin stationed the suitcases on the then empty seat, “We do have a mean number of suitcases to drag and it is pissing so hard outside.”

“It’s just two. Or maybe more...” Chenle pondered as he tried to count mentally the amount of luggage he bought along.

“Two or not, I am not using my strength to drag them through the airport looking for taxis.”

“Okay then.” Chenle hailed the red suitcase behind him as the lines moved, the hem of his loose white shirt caught between the handle, “You should get some sleep then. You look haunting.”

Thinking about it, Jaemin really didn’t summon an inch of sleep during the whole ride. The thoughts became so overbearing, that his eyes were stretched dry and wide open. He didn’t know why humans weren’t blessed with the power to cease their thoughts to emptiness.

As the people buzzed along the aisle like sardines, Jaemin and Chenle busied themselves bantering about the hotel they were about to stay in. Chenle wanted different rooms and Jaemin insisted on one.

“Why are you being stingy?”

“I am not being stingy. The point of this whole trip was for me to spend more time with you. Please.” Jaemin pouted, it was the ultimate destructive weapon he could bring about, “I want to have fun.”

“Okay.” Chenle bobbed his head, a small smile escaping his lips, as he lifted his hand to pinch Jaemin’s cheeks, “But don’t, for God’s sake, cuddle me.”

“Well, God only knows if I can control myself.” Jaemin shrugged, as he leaned his face against Chenle’s flat palm. The latter quickly tapped his cheeks, as the line in front of them started advancing forward. He threw one of his arms on Chenle’s shoulders, and moved forward, exchanging smiles and farewells with the airplane crew.

As they exited the smothering insides of the aircraft, what welcomed them outside was the flashes of thunder which seemed to throb through the glass hovering over them. One of the passengers screeched in fear, and Chenle snapped his neck behind in reflex. His face was twisted in distraught, as he threw a glance at Jaemin, to which Jaemin shrugged and directed themselves towards the exit.

Well, the exit wasn’t actually near since the hurdles and hubbub of casual airport immigration usually came next. Jaemin held his passport tightly against his torso, as if it would be taken away or lost if he took his eyes off it. He rifled through the visa pages for the nth time, before heaving a groan. The undulating line of people was lengthy, weaving through curls and longitudes of airport belts. Chenle was beside him, at the international line, engaging in what seemed like an intriguing chat with someone he barely knew. He held his red passport in his hand carelessly as he gesticulated pompously about something to the other bystander, inaudible to Jaemin’s ears.

Unexpectedly, the international line progressed quicker compared to his own line. Chenle was way ahead by five or six people and was second to the first to immigration window. Jaemin had his lips curved, and eyebrows knitted as he glanced to and fro from his immobile line to Chenle’s active queue.

Someone bumped onto his back and quickly apologized, so Jaemin didn’t see the point in craning his head so he just bobbed his head. He glanced at his watch, it had been fifteen minutes. He could overhear the person behind him, mumbling indistinctly which went along the lines of being tired and how busy the immigration was. Jaemin could relate, and he could probably engage in extroverted conservation as Chenle could. He could comment like a know-it-all, or how the staff were incompetent or ask about a stranger’s flight and other things people weirdly talk about. But his usual timidness held him back. He would rather spend his time staring at another person’s dandruff sprinkled cardigan than talk with someone, which could keep him preoccupied in his then useless time.

However, as he contemplated the pros and cons of talking to people in the airport, the line seemed to minimize. He quickly entered the immigration chamber, presented his passport with a tired smile. His eyes might have been twitching weirdly but he couldn’t give a damn about it. All he wanted was to get out of that dense space and catch up with Chenle who was already waiting for him outside. With a thank you and a polite bow of his head, he rushed through the automatic doors with a slight look over his shoulders. He couldn’t clearly catch the profile of the stranger, but he noted the ruffled dyed golden locks covering half of his face. That was judging from his blurry peripheral vision He couldn’t linger his eyes on much longer because Chenle impatiently called him out from the other side of the railing, pointing at the escalator from which they must descend down to fetch their luggage.

Okay. Perhaps, Jaemin had too much baggage he bought from the US. There wasn’t really a need for a suitcase full of sneakers and another full of expensive pullovers that he would only wear in his hotel. Chenle was annoyed because he didn’t think the luggage would be that heavy to hoist over to the cart. Jaemin suggested that they could easily call staff to help them with that, but Chenle waved it off saying he was a “man” and “I am more than capable.” He looked like he was struggling, so Jaemin gave him a hand.

Now both of them were struggling, since stacking a heavy suitcase over another on a running cart, was difficult. More than you could imagine. With grunts and moans, they managed to lift up two. Although the heaviest one was still left, which carried all of Chenle’s paraphernalia like sandals, cups of instant rice, yet another bunch of useless clothing, and a freaking hair-dryer.

“Where are all your abs now, you hunk?” Chenle punched Jaemin’s tummy in frustration, “All of these rock-hard muscles for nothing.”

“I can’t lift 20 kg all by myself,” Inching back, he covered his tummy areas with his arms, “and don’t blame my abs. They are just there. Naturally occurring.”

“Don’t brag.”

“I am not bragging about being inherently physically fit.”

Chenle was about to quip back but was lipped shut mid-sentence as someone grabbed the suitcase from the other side. The someone, as cliche as it sounded, seemed like heaven-sent. Flannel shirt slipping over his shoulder, rough black strands hanging over his forehead and smile tightly cocked to the side. _Who said K-drama scenes didn’t exist in real life?_ It was right there, unfolding in front of him like a scene from his TV. The stranger, although slender with impressive height, tipped his head signaling Chenle to clutch on the other side.

“Right. Okay.”Chenle scrambled off to hold the other corner as they both hoisted it over the red carrier that Jaemin owned. The stranger smiled at their success and met Chenle’s high-five. Chenle was giggling like crazy as if he was on a spell.

“Thank you so much. This-” pointing to Jaemin as if he was an accused perpetrator,”-kid bought too much with him.”

“Guilty as charged.” Jaemin laughed, holding his hand out defensively.

“Ah. Well, we do tend to bring more than needed. As the saying goes, when the bag is too big, you bring too less and if the bag is too small, everything seems essential enough to pack.”

Jaemin was sure there was no saying like that. Even star-struck Chenle seemed unimpressed.

“What is your name, kind stranger?” Chenle gave a curtsy like those house butlers in DownTown Abbey and the latter was gladly amused. Must have been something right up his alley, that the stranger started laughing at it unusually.

“Oh, I am Jisung. You guys are foreigners? I think I might have seen you, “he said, pointing at Jaemin, “at the non-immigrant line. You were standing right in front of my friend.”

“Yeah.” Jaemin shrugged, “Well, I moved to the US 10 years back for an education program. I met Chenle there, “Chenle smiled and waved, “He is Chinese so he was at the other line.”

“No wonder I haven’t seen him at our line.” Jisung politely smiled, “Ah, my friend is supposed to be here at any moment so I think I should go.”

“Oh.” Chenle seemed disappointed, as he floundered his hand mid-air, “Well, thanks anyway.”

“Yeah.” Jaemin grinned and bobbed his head repetitively, “Thanks for helping us with this stupid hurdle. Thanks to you, we look like weak twinks.”

Jisung laughed, waving his hands at the compliment.

As Jisung bid his final goodbye, turning on his heels sauntering away, a frown replaced Chenle’s usual goofy grins. Jaemin nudged Chenle’s sides with his elbows but the latter shrugged away with a glum smile. If Jaemin knew anything better, it was not to prod Chenle about it but he knew it was probably on the lines of harboring a major crush on a stranger, of whom he knew nothing but a simple name. Jaemin volunteered to push the cart while Chenle could hold on to small carriers, and he agreed without further argument. With his passport still held in one hand, he curled his hands around the handle and rolled the cart off.

“The rain.” Chenle mumbled, catching Jaemin’s attention, “It stopped.”

True to his words, the sky was clear of gloomy clouds as the azure curtain stretched as far his eyes could reach. The ceiling to floor windows reflected a decent amount of sunlight to heat the floor in straight limelight, reaching the end of the tip of his toe. As far as his eyes could go, the surroundings were dipped in a golden hue, highlighting the profiles of strangers, their glimmering suitcases that were dragged beside them.

“It’s good, isn’t it? We don’t have to worry about transportation anymore, do we?”

“Yes, but on the other hand, I lost that sexy guy’s number.” Chenle screeched softly, “I don’t care about the sun.”

“Well, he’s gone now.” Jaemin said, “There is no point regretting about-”

Someone bumped on his shoulder, causing him to push the cart over the said person’s shoe. Jaemin quickly apologized, bowing his head down in remorse as his eyes were fixed on the stranger’s tight Balenciaga Speed sneakers. He had a similar pair at home. Jaemin straightened up, meeting eyes with someone, at least according to him, who could easily pass off as a supermodel. With bare, muscled arms on show and rocking a loose white sleeveless top as his blond waves of hair were slicked to the side with heaps of gel. The glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose, looked undeniably hot. The small lettering plastered on the side of his tee in a dark boring font, “Summers”, went along with then perspiration dripping down at one side of his cheek. The whole airport was blasted with full air-conditioner, so Jaemin couldn’t comprehend why one was sweating profusely like that.

“You are hot-” Jaemin blurted but he caught himself soon to correct, “It’s hot, right?”

The “hot” stranger bent down and fetched the passports that dropped from both of their hands during the collisions, “Yeah. Well, it's summer. Here.”

“Thanks.” Jaemin grabbed the passport back, sneaking a glance at the protruding veins embossed on his arms like streams. He determined that person must have been someone famous he was too uneducated to recognize.

The stranger nodded and flashed an awkward smile before scurrying away from the direction he came from.

Chenle stood close by, like a bystander, and perhaps was still mulling over his missed opportunity. Jaemin continued driving his cart through the empty baggage reclaim area, meeting the crowds of civilians at the faraway entrance. After submitting their traveler forms to the customs, they maneuvered through the dense flock of tourists to the main foyer.

All that was left was to either ride the subway or call a taxi. But they took the better of each option, with Chenle finally contributing with some comments and deemed it was better to take the taxi. With each step they took towards the entrance, more of the crowds seemed too dense. With incoherent chatter echoing against their eardrums, the film of perspiration forming on their nape as their hands were turning sticky with summer sweat, Jaemin thought it would be better to discard his jean jacket now. Chenle was still wearing his black leather jacket, layered over the sheer white tee. His milky skin almost blurred in with the tee, as if he was wearing an article of clothing over nothing but nakedness.

Combing through his faded blue hair, Jaemin sighed. The road singled out to no taxis, the front porch empty of any passengers. It looked like the crowds remained to buzz inside, taking a deep breath of the air conditioner, and letting it dry their already-pasty skin. The soft mutters of some security officers sounded foreign to his ears even though it was the language he talked in. He guessed it might have been the effect of living the last five years, drowning in white English and rough New York grammar.

“So what should we do?” said Chenle, eyebrows furrowed in mere worry. Jaemin shrugged and replied, “I guess we wait. There is nothing else we can do.”

“Can you go ask them for help? Like when the taxis are coming back…”

Jaemin nodded and walked towards the blue-uniformed security officers, each chatting the two others up. He waved them with his two fingers, and they welcomed him with a smile.

“Do you know when the taxis are coming back?” He pointed out to the empty taxi stand, and the officers guffawed unreasonably. Jaemin didn’t understand what was so funny about his question. The chirping of cicadas numbed his ears like a broken hymn.

“Well, the taxis aren’t available right now and they aren’t going to be, right?” One said, looking at his stout company, who had an unhinging smile on his face.

“They sure aren’t.” said the other with a cheer, “I think you should go to your hotel by bus. Cheap and easy. Also, the highway is jammed right now so the taxis who were supposed to come back are stuck there. It is very unusual because normally there are plenty.”

Jaemin gave a nervous smile and carded through his hair once more, pulling the lengthened hair on his nape, “We have a bunch of suitcases and it is going to be a hurdle, loading them on and off at every stop.”

“Then, I think you should ask someone else to drop you off. We have car services, although illegal inside. We should catch those drivers, loitering there like damned rats but we take pity on them. They scam the passengers for 100 when it's easily 60. Not to mention, stubborn as hell.”

“Ah.” Jaemin smiled, “It’s not going to be a problem, then. I can lose a couple of bucks for reaching home safely, I guess.”

“It’s your choice, kid.” said the taller one of the officers, “But in my opinion, you should wait a bit longer and see if anyone can give you a ride. You might turn out lucky.”

Jaemin bobbed his head and turned back leaving a word of thanks. Although, he wasn’t patient enough to consider waiting long enough and decided to settle with the illegal ride. He might be ripped off a few bucks but he couldn’t care.

“You seemed like you were having a good chat.” Chenle gibed, “man, should I grab you some biscotti so you could continue your tea time?”

“Sorry,” Jaemin replied sheepishly.

“What did they say?” Chenle asked, inclining his chin at the group of three there.

“Not much-” Jaemin craned his neck to look at the sliding doors of the exit, “-said that we should wait for someone who would be willing to drop us off. I-I think we should do that.”

“Okay. So we wait.” Chenle sighed and Jaemin mulled over what he just said. He knew well there was no guarantee that some gallant knight would drop on them without warning, ready to take them on his horseback. It seemed unrealistic to pin their hopes on. Chenle seemed bored out of his wits, as he continued shifting from one leg to another. Jaemin deemed that he should have hired a chauffeur to take them to their hotel so perhaps, finally, give his parents a call. But both of those options were a no-go, at least according to Jaemin. The first time he brought his friend to his hometown, the ordeal unraveled in front of them like a shitty curse.

However, a matter of ten minutes went by, the officers on their hindsight vanished without a trace of their booming laughter, and Chenle, by his side, grew impatient with escapes of whines leaving his lips. Probably, Chenle thought it would be rude to harangue or pester Jaemin about who was going to pick them up, knowing that the latter lacked answers too.

“Want us to give you a ride?” On any given normal day, Jaemin would have waved them off. Them, being the guy in the sleeveless tee from earlier and Jisung hanging on to his arm on right. Yes, the gallant knight, riding on their white horse had galloped in front of them, among the heft of the crowd. As unbelievable as it looked, or sounded, they were right there, offering them a seat in their car. The words were almost inaudible, echoing alongside the irking whispers of the summer insects, and as Jaemin turned around, his eyes meeting the ones of that very ‘hot’ stranger. It was strange how fate lucked out.

Before Jaemin could say anything, Chenle cut in by a cheerful “Yes! Thank God!” He was too excited seeing Jisung, but at least now, he wouldn’t sulk around about not receiving his number. Reticence was absent in him, but Jaemin could relate to the relief that washed over him as he saw the blonde streaks of hair, the bold summer written on the familiar white tee. The image from earlier was etched on his mind, for as long as he could remember.

“Let me help with the cases.” Jaemin reclined his back from the mountain of suitcases stationed behind them, as the young guy passed a smile lifting one of the carriers off. Jisung engaged in a conversation with Chenle, and the latter was too engrossed to give a bother about helping out with the suitcases. Jisung looked like he had taken a liking too, as he continued gesticulating bombastically about something Jaemin couldn’t properly hear.

The guy, later on, introduced himself as Jeno. Jaemin plunged his passport, which he had been holding on to from the past hour, into his pocket and inched his hand forward, “Jaemin.” he said softly.

Jaemin tried to ignore the sublimity that Jeno exuded, as he kept his eyes solely on his shoes. Jisung had to fetch the car and as expected Chenle accompanied him too, leaving Jaemin and Jeno to be surrounded by pure awkwardness.

“You are from here, right?” Jeno asked after a while, twisting his arms above his head causing the tee to pull up to his midriff. Jaemin tore his eyes from the skin peeking through and kept it fixed on his shoes.

“Yeah…” Time to act normal, act normal, Jaemin chanted to himself as he mustered the courage to look at Jeno, “I moved to the US for an educational program and I only come here for summers. I mean I was supposed to, but I ended up only visiting here for one summer seven years ago and never took another initiative. Well, until now.”

“Did it change?” Jeno asked, cocking one of his eyebrows up.

“What?”

“You know, did anything change from the last time you came here?”

“No.” Jaemin smiled upon realizing, “Except that you strangers are taking up my personal space. No-I’m just kidding. But it’s nice that you guys are helping us. Even though it's my own space, my own country, I, myself, don’t know what to do.”

“It happens all the time so don’t worry about it.”

“What happens all the time? Do people get lost here all the time?”

“No.” Jeno gave out a chuckle, “It’s natural to feel lost. It happens to me all the time but luckily, Jisung is always there to help me sort it out.”

“Oh. That’s great. When I get lost, Chenle harangues me instead.” He grinned, “Serves me right.”

As Jaemin and Jeno absorbed themselves in conversations consisting of useless small talks and icebreakers, pile of suitcases stationed beside them, the endless screech of crows hovering under the clear azure sky while the rush of some cars ebbed away, everything including how Jisung was late with the car, was surprisingly pushed to the back of their mind. Jaemin, particularly, felt himself drowning in the occasional smiles or sudden laughter that Jeno ensued after he had cracked a joke. It wasn’t funny; as per Chenle, he was merely short of humor skills. But somehow, that day, under the scorching warmth of the summer, he had made someone laugh.

“Nope.” Jeno shook his head, “I never dunk my french fries in milkshakes. Do Americans really do that?”

“Oh, I have seen so much more disgusting spectacles. It never ran short.” Jaemin heaved, “But I guess that was the charm of not living anywhere but the US. The adventure, the hubbub surrounding people, or how every day was a new discovery. Sounds like I’m reciting a YA novel, that’s pretty famous too there. I liked every bit of it, despite the random ordeals I wrapped myself into.”

“I wonder where Jisung’s gone…” Jaemin had been wondering about it too. It was bizarre the two, was absent for almost 30 minutes when the car garage was, right opposite of them. Lines and lines of cars were laid In front of them, yet the two heads were nowhere to be seen.

“I think I should call him now,” Jeno said, with worry underlying his tone.

They had been so engrossed at their shares of interests, they had forgotten about the main reason they had been waiting there. Jaemin flicked his eyes over Jeno’s shoulder and spotted Chenle running through cool zephyr, with his hair surfing back. He looked like he was in a hurry, as tiredness weighed down his soles.

“Jisung can’t start the car.” Chenle said within small pants, “He told me to inform you but you know how I am with directions. It took me fucking 15 minutes to get around the parking lot.”

“It’s okay.” Jeno swiveled his neck to meet Jaemin’s eyes, “I’ll be right back!”

“Okay.”

Chenle straightened from his bent posture as Jaemin quickly handed him a bottle of water. After Chenle took a few swings of the toppling water in the water bottle and cleared it with a sigh of relaxation. His shoulders slackened, as he looked beside,

“You tired?”

“Me?” Jaemin waved his hand, “No. Not at all.”

“Did you two have a good talk? You two looked like you had a nice time.”

“In this heat?” Chenle furrowed his eyes at his answer.

“No.” Jaemin tipped the corner of his lips up, “I am just kidding. He is nice and asked me all sorts of questions you can ask a stranger. Just some ice-breakers and that’s all. What about you and Jisung?”

Chenle dipped his head low, probably to hide the burning and blushing face, “He was benevolent enough to let me know his full name. I didn’t lose the chance now. I wanted to wait until we get to the hotel and settle down but you know me. I can’t wait. I didn’t want to sulk later on.”

“Well, let’s hope we get plenty of chances to bond over later.” Jaemin grinned as he patted Chenle’s back, flattening out the leather creases, “You are getting pretty daring, though. What has gotten into you?”

The chivalry of the pair had not finished there, as they came on pretty quickly with Jeno maneuvering the car through the aisle of the immobile cars. He looked coy, as he curled his finger in the air to signal Jaemin and Chenle to join them at the back.

“Get in.” Jeno shouted from the left, “The air con is on so relax at the back. Jisung and I will lift the suitcases in so don’t worry about it.”

“We can help you. I mean we are not kids who can’t lift a few suitcases nor are we tired.”

“It’s okay. Just get in.” He flapped his hand again and pointed at the back.

Jaemin, tightened his lip to a straight line and sauntered around the car to the far left, only to open the door and crawl in. Jeno was laughing about something at the back, as he hauled pieces of luggage onto the boot. The words that escaped in between were incomprehensible, as it produced a chuckle or two from Jisung. Chenle, as he noticed a minute later, was not with him at the back seat but with Jisung, joining in their conversation so casually. The streaks of sunlight were soon blocked by the piled up paraphernalia, Jaemin wallowing in guilt of stashing so many belonging into little suitcases.

“Get in, already.” Jisung pleaded with a whine as he pushed Chenle lightly. Jaemin watched them with an impassive expression that he didn’t intend to make. Jisung caught his eyes, and lowered down his face before slamming the door behind Chenle. He wanted to tell Chenle to be wary of Jisung because he was, after all, someone they barely knew. Excessively kind, yes. Polite enough to address them nicely, of course. Still, he was a stranger. He should tell him, maybe.

“Hey, buddy.” Jaemin tapped Chenle on his leather-covered arm. He bit his lips. “Get rid of your leather jacket already. It’s scalding out there.”

_He decided not to say it after all._

Jeno returned after shutting the boot window down with a resounding thud. He opened the front door, and swiftly slid in with his other hand already caught on the car’s steering wheel. He took a swing of the back seat, as Chenle sneaked in a wave. Jeno waved back with a smile before darting his eyes over at Jaemin, which Jaemin ignored. Jeno simply shrugged, and swiveled to the front, setting his eyes at the road in front. That was when Jaemin could finally look at him through the rear-view mirror, how Jeno’s eyebrows concentrated in the middle or how Jeno looked at him through his hindsight.

Jaemin didn’t remove his eyes. Although his heart was somersaulting inside his ribcage like a damn hamster on a wheel, it was better keeping his sight on the glass rather than looking at him directly.

“You guys set?” Jeno asked without looking back, as he geared up the engine with a twist of his keys, “any last minute regrets before riding with us?”

“If we had any, we wouldn’t have boarded your car anyway.” Chenle piped in.

“Oh no…” Jeno turned back once again, to catch Jaemin’s eyes again as a smirk made its way on the bow of his lips, “It’s just that I have failed my driving test twice.”

“What?!”

Later on, Jisung convinced them Jeno was kidding and that it was a way of him opening up to strangers. Although jokes aside, it was true Jeno had failed his driving tests twice however, now, it came to be that he was the best driver among his friends and that Jisung was very much jealous of him.

“I mean-I am good but I never take the steering wheel under my custody.” Jisung sighed, “Who knows who I might run over with my carelessness. You two should go on a long drive with me once, you would think I drank two bottles of soju.”

“Yeah, he’s right. Never go in a car with him.” Jeno twisted the car to the right, then ascending over on a highway that seemed to be stretched for miles ahead, “You too, Chenle.”

“What do you mean me?” Chenle screeched, as Jaemin cupped his ears in reflex to the high pitch, “-I am not keen on killing myself.”

“No. I overheard you earlier.” Jeno said with an airy snicker, “You two were like on verge of _snogging_ up to one another. Isn’t that the people in the movie say, _‘snog’_?’ He turned to Jaemin on the rear-view to which Jaemin could only shake his head, with a small turn of his lips.

“Yeah. Snog.” Jaemin didn’t care to explain, “Where did you learn it from? Harry Potter?”

“Jaemin, don’t teach him weird things,” Chenle whined, tugging on his sleeves roughly. Jaemin only shrugged and drew an innocent look over his face.

The chassis of the car revived reminiscence of nothing in particular as if Jaemin had been on that ride forever With Jisung and Chenle cracking jokes, which Jaemin had half of the mind to attend to. As if his memories were conjoined on the top of his head like a spell he couldn’t ebb away. His mind was traveling to the last day he ever was in Korea, the last ill-fated day when he decided he would never return back. Those along with the new billboard hanging up so high the sky, curtained with the foggy clouds, seemed so far away.

He was glad in a way, for Jeno and Jisung to give them a lift. Not because if not for them, they wouldn’t have had a ride but for being a distraction from his wallowing thoughts. Those were haunting, and he didn’t want to go back there.

“Jaemin?” Jisung craned back with an indecipherable grin plastered on his face, with his hair ruffled up on the front, “Do you like desserts?”

“Sure,” Jaemin answered as he shuffled on his seat, feeling the leather rub on his bare arms.

“You wanna come with us to downtown-”

Before Jaemin could construct an answer, Chenle was quick to interrupt with his signature high-pitched, “YES!” It was said in an over-the-top excited tone to ignore, so Jaemin gave him a look to tone it down.

”He asked me Chenle,” he said, pressing his forefinger on his chest, “I can answer it, okay?”

But that called for a tug from Chenle’s end on Jaemin’s arm, which was a bit rough to brush off. Jaemin wrestled out of his tight grip, and it ensued a puerile fight to break out. Chenle was still gripping on his arm with all his mighty strength while Jaemin was battling it down by partly hovering over him. He prayed that his hard stare was enough for the younger to step down. But they both knew Chenle didn’t give up without a sweat even when there were two strangers staring at them with pure astonishment.

“Just stop!” Jaemin groaned, “They are staring at us.”

But Chenle was not having it, he shook his head vigorously and mouthed, “Sorry. Say it.”

Yes, as Jaemin suspected. Chenle was embarrassed as Jaemin might have pointed out the excited tone of his voice when he previously squeaked, “Yes!”.

‘Sorry. I am sorry.” Jaemin said it out loud and clear. It enticed a chuckle from the two young men upfront, as Chenle slowly tore himself away from Jaemin’s side.

“I swear you look like two rebelling twins.” Jeno said, as his hands were curled on to the steering wheel as his eyes panned on the rolled out road, “Believe me, I have two younger cousins and they always used to fight like this. Not anymore most probably because they have grown out of that phase. I guess you two haven’t.”

“No.” Jisung added, “Don’t compare them to your cousins. Jaemin and Chenle are cute.”

“Yes. What you meant to say is Chenle.”

Jaemin stifled back a laugh, as he joined in with, “I don’t mind Jisung. Chenle is all yours for that downtown date.”

As the sun rays struck through the dark tinted glass on the profile of Chenle's face, he could see his slightly reddened cheeks and a peek of a smile. Maybe, he wouldn’t have to fight as he expected when they have to return to the hotel.

The rest of the ride served a sense of tranquility, as Jaemin laid his head against the window, trying to conjure his sleep. But he knew sleep would be shy to arrive because he could never sleep in a car from when he was a kid. But the muffles of a softly tuned radio, or the beeps of the GPS or how the tint of the windows shadowed him from the scathing cry of the raging sun, lulled him midway. The air from the blasting AC formed patches of dryness on his skin, resulting in pasty white skin to evolve on the tip of his fingers. Chenle was long gone in his slumber, his mouth upturned into a frown. Jisung was lost too, as Jaemin could scrutinize from the rear-view mirror, his lengthy hair making a curtain over his eyes. His flannel stayed on the gear lever, as oftentimes Jeno would flip it back to his thigh but the edge would again find its place there.

On another note, there was Jeno. His serious eyes on the road were a contrast to his widely spread smile that never seemed to leave his lips. He was the one who suggested turning on the radio to fill in for the emptiness that seemingly infested the car as words ceased, when the other two fell asleep. Probably, Jeno deemed that Jaemin was well into his slumber too, since he was being careful with everything he did. Little did he know, Jaemin watched every drift of his fingers unfold in front of him fondly, with an inexplicable smile on his face.

In the middle of the ride, Jeno craned his neck slightly once as his eyes softly dragged across to Jaemin’s visage. Jaemin quickly shut his eyes prior, so that he wouldn’t notice. What he heard in return was a soft, stifled chuckle and he turned away again.

“You aren’t asleep, are you?” he whispered so softly, surging in with the whirr of the air conditioner. Jaemin didn’t answer, even though he could comprehend what he said. He didn’t want to give in. Not yet, at least.

The car ride elongated up to an hour and a half. Chenle had woken up five minutes prior, as he groggily lolled his head against Jaemin’s bicep, his cheeks squeezed to a pulp. Jaemin wanted to pinch the soft skin in between his fingers, but he resisted. Bet Chenle wanted to be embarrassed in front of his potential paramour, who then was taking stealthy glances at him every now and then. Jaemin’s fingers curled up on his dress pants, as he gave it a little squeeze. His palm was clammy, and even though he kept wiping it on the rough material of his shirt, it didn’t rub off.

The intended hotel was situated conveniently along the curb of a narrow alley and attached the main road, which lead to the Gwanghwamun square. That downtown area held its reputation of having commercial banks, crowded tourist hubs, and the infamous Gwanghwamun gate along with the glinting erect statue of King Sejong. It was fairly in close proximity with the buzzing Myeongdong shopping area, so Jaemin deemed it would be easy to commute to and fro. What stood right beside their hotel, was of course, one of the abundant convenience stores sparse along with the city. A petite GS25. holding their preserved bento boxes, tubs of Haagen-Dazs and of course, curry powder flavored ramen. Choosing such a hotel, had its perks, Jaemin assumed. He couldn’t wait to fill up on heaps of sodium the few days he was going to stay there.

Jeno jammed the car in front of the hotel, and when he looked back to inform, tiredness was evident under his eyes.

“You look like you haven’t slept in years.” Jaemin said as he slid towards the car door, “We haven’t given you too much trouble, have we?”

“Oh well.” Jeno laughed again, and Jaemin swore that that cursed sound would be stuck on his ears until kingdom come and he wasn’t going to be sick of it anyway, “I mean I could use some sleep. But don’t worry, my home is just on the outskirts of this downtown so it wouldn’t take much time to drive there.”

“I can drive.” Jisung popped up from the open front window, taking Jeno off-guard as he jolted a bit in surprise.

“When did you get off?”

“Just a minute ago.” Jisung disappeared again behind the car, as Jeno signed under his breath.

“I am not letting him drive.” Jeno announced more to himself as an assurance, before looking up at Jaemin who admittedly was staring daggers at him, “Aren’t you getting off?”

“Oh yeah.” Jaemin bobbed his head, punching himself inwardly for his stupidity. A bit embarrassed, he rounded at the back where apparently Chenle was sharing some last minute pleasantries with Jisung. He didn’t want to interrupt so he joined Jeno at the front, who was just boarding off the car. He waved a bit, and sauntered closer, taking Jeno’s wrist and yanking towards the headlights.

“Wh-”

“Let the kids have their moment. They are surely exchanging their phone numbers right now so we don't want to interrupt.”

Jeno smiled, as his eyes trailed to their linked hands. Jaemin followed his glance, as once he realized his hands shot right back to his side. It might have been funny to Jeno, as he bubbled into guffaws, shaking his head as he did so.

“Don’t you want my number?” He asked once he calmed down, but Jaemin, unfortunately, didn’t notice.

Jaemin hummed, asking him to repeat his question again.

“I asked if-”

Just then, Chenle came hopping by Jaemin’s side showing off Jisung’s number saved across the screen. Jeno didn’t say anything and simply walked away to the back to heave their suitcases off the car. Jaemin found it weird as he kept looking at Jeno’s back as he went away, his right side pressed against Chenle, who prodded him to look at Jisung’s number. He wondered if he said anything wrong because Jeno’s face sagged with an evident frown. He brushed it off and turned back to Chenle as he asked him how it went down.

“I didn’t even have to ask for his number, he just took the phone from my hand-although he did have to return it back immediately because obviously, he didn’t have my password. But after I unlocked the phone-much for being daring-he punched his number in from me.”

“Glad I didn’t pop up in the middle of it like _‘hey~’_ ” he gestured, popping finger-guns “That would have been awkward.”

“Yeah.” Chenle agreed as he slipped his phone back into his pocket after much reluctance, “You aren’t going to take Jeno’s number? I mean, you did look like you were enjoying his company at the airport. Plus, you both are the same age, right?”

“We are the same age?” It was news to Jaemin. He quickly shut off his ajar mouth, as Chenle hand pushed up his slacked jaw.

“According to Jisung, he was born in 2000. Was it April? Probably, April. Yeah.”

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t need his number.” Jaemin was lying to himself. He desperately wanted his number so he could, like Chenle, stare at his phone screen for hours, until his eyes would get tired of it. But then again, he wasn’t brave or daring like Jisung. He didn’t even come close to it. Besides, would Jeno _even_ want his number?

“Okay. Whatever you say.” Chenle said, trying to unleash his phone from his pocket again until Jaemin put his hand over Chenle’s pocket, and patted it. He inclined his head towards the trunk of the car, where Jeno and Jisung were standing.

“Let’s go and help them. You have the rest of the day to skim through your phone, okay?”

Once all the suitcases were scattered on the bristly road, four of them stood for a minute, resting their hand on their waist.

“You two have too much baggage, really. What’s in there anyway?” Jisung said hoarsely, as he wiped out the dripping sweat from his forehead with his left hand. 

“Jaemin’s clothes. But also mine.” Chenle replied sheepishly.

“Makes sense.” Jisung nodded, “You are here for a two weeks trip? Then I guess this much is enough.”

It was soon, after five minutes, when all was said and one at the front reception, over. Their interaction was limited to one car ride, an exchange of numbers, a graze of one’s hand against another wrist and a bizarre conversation about milkshakes and fries. Chenle, for obvious reasons, held a rather private conversation with Jisung at the far left of the hotel floor, where a faux plant was standing. It wasn’t even a secretly whispered conversation, because Chenle was being so loud with his banters, Jaemin could understand every word.

However, in front of the reception, Jaemin studied Jeno’s face for a while as if he was going to say something. But he didn’t; he continued serving his silence until the end, when Jaemin and Chenle had to wave them goodbye.  _ He wouldn’t see Jeno again, would he? _ He still looked forward to one last smile directed at him as the pair walked towards their car, but Jeno only wormed into the driver’s seat and closed the car door behind him.

It was for the better, he guessed.

He returned back to the reception to book their room, with a solemn expression drawn on his face. The receptionist asked for his passport, and he plunged his hand back into his pocket, rummaging for the green little book. When he picked it out finally, and handed it over to the receptionist, the latter only stared at it confusedly. The lady showed it to her partner at the reception, who was then processing Chenle’s paperwork, furrowed his brows, and took the passport from her hand to look at it closely.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Sir, I’m afraid this is not your passport.” The man showed the opened passport to Jaemin, and he could only bite his lips in utter embarrassment. He had Jeno’s passport along with him,  _ all along _ .


	2. i hope i’ll be back

“Hi…” Jaemin’s greetings came out as a soft whimper, as he was afraid that Jeno might be the one receiving the call. But he knew it well, that the number he was dialing was Jisung and there was no way, that the voice on the other side-

“Chenle?” Jisung yelped before biting down his surprise, “Your voice…it doesn’t sound like you?”

“What-have you memorized each others’ voices now, hmm?”Jaemin mocked, as he darted his eyes over at Chenle, who seemed to be ticked off his wits, “You have known each other for a day.”

“Oh…Jaemin…uh…” Jisung was flustered, as per judging from his changed tone, “What-” he cleared his throat again, “What’s up?”

“Can you pass the phone to Jeno, please?” From the other side, he could shuffle off the leather tiered seat, faint whispers of Jeno asking if it was Jaemin on the phone and the reared up car coming to a stop. Jaemin smiled slightly, sticking his hand inside his cargo pockets. He gave Chenle a look and mouthed, “Just a second more.”

“Yeah…sure. Wait up.” He heard the scuffles that came along with Jisung handing the phone off to Jeno, the latter’s sigh that laced in as he pressed the phone against his ears. He could feel the nervousness clogging up his throat, as he construed inside his head sentences and how to utter it, without failing embarrassingly. It was incomprehensible, how he felt so timid whenever he would be near that mere stranger, that he only met that day. But perhaps, there was something tugging him towards him, inexplicable.

“Hi?” His voice pointed out as a question as if Jaemin calling him was unexpected.

“Right. Hi. Um…Jeno.” Well, there went Jaemin’s gathered grit as it minimized to baffled mumbles, “Jeno…I think we have exchanged our passports. I don’t think…but actually, we have. I have your passport with me now and you have mine. So could you be kind once more and return my passport? I mean I can’t-”

“I am coming to you right now.”

“Well, that was quick.”

“I don't have any other choice given the circumstances.”

While waiting, Jaemin idled the time away, staring at the picture plastered on the front page of the passport. Along with name and other formalities, stood his well photo-shopped picture, highlighting his white skin and making it more brightly pale and gave him an unusual contour around his cheekbones. Of course, it went without saying, his real-life features were much more handsome than the picture depicted to a certain extent. Chenle was sitting beside him, toying with his phone or engrossed in a blooming relationship or a chat room in between his newly found paramour. He could have said, to be cautious but he wasn’t sure if he was doing it himself.

The concierge was empty of people now, as the pair from before had them with a chit, which had the WIFI password written on it. Jaemin twirled the chit in between his fingers, eyes fixated on the clear back of it. He contemplated whether he should carry on, what he schemed a minute ago when he was left with minuscule paper on his hand. He craned his neck, to look at Chenle who was sitting beside him, of course, engrossed in his phone like it was the most interesting possession he could own. Probably, Jisung’s face was flashed across the screen; Jaemin couldn’t get a better look as the brightness was turned low to blinding dark.

“Hey, Chenle.”

“Hmm?” Chenle didn’t look up from his phone.

“Pass me the pen, will you?” He pointed out at the spare pen left on the table, who knew whose it was. Chenle looked over, finally, and leaned over to get a hold of the pen. He flipped the pen in his hand before lending it back to Jaemin.

“Thanks.” He replied, and went on to scribble over the backside of the paper. He quickly filed it in between Jeno’s passport, and slightly pulled out a peek of the chit over the cover, so that it could be seen.

Jeno came back, as quickly as he didn’t obviously expect. Outskirts of the town it might have been still was a long way home, and it should have taken at least 1 hour trip there, not minding that he had dropped Jisung at his home. Well, that was Jaemin had gathered from a skim of Google maps, on which he had on for the past half an hour. He was worried, okay? Not that he would ever admit but he was jealous that Chenle had something to return every minute or so, as the phone rang so rigorously against the glass table, and a notification popped up on his screen. Perhaps, swiping through empty maps, and tapping on useless restaurant pins along the street would seem convincing that he too, had something that kept equally busy.

Yes, he had gone around and hesitantly paused on his parents’ contact, thinking whether or not it would be best if he had called them. But gladly he didn’t. He didn’t want to look impudent for once in his life.

But all those haunting sentiments came to a pause when he saw Jeno standing outside the glass window, waving his (Jaemin’s) passport in the air. A smile appeared on his tired face, and Jaemin felt guilty.

“I’m so sorry, for making you come again.” Jaemin said as he approached Jeno outside, while the sliding doors closed behind him, “Do you want to come inside? Take a breather.”

“I think I must turn it down.” Jeno softly chuckled, gesticulating his hands dismissively, “My passport.”

“Right. Yeah. I have it here, right in my pocket.”

“Kept me safe, huh?” Jeno said coyly, to which Jaemin blushed and it would have been outwardly embarrassing and visible if it wasn’t for the dark lighting of the streets. Of course, the ill-lit lighting only came to mercy when it enhanced Jeno’s contour so handsomely that Jaemin was biting his cheek all that time. He was casually enchanting, the white sleeveless tee, or the cargo pants, and tousled blond locks all had come to a plea.

“More or less.” He slipped the passport out from his leather jacket (Chenle’s one which he sneakily adorned on his shoulders when he wasn’t looking), and inched it towards Jeno who took it, with a hesitant hand. Jeno gave Jaemin’s back, more like pushed it towards him as Jaemin, confusedly, thrust the piece inside his pocket.

“Jaemin.” Jeno cleared, eyes swirling everywhere except on him, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go on.” Jaemin could feel the cold summer air, settling in between his fingers that he could not help but pull his hands inside his pockets, and play with the corner of the passport cover.

“Well…it's just that—” Just then a truck had so steadily, loudly whooshed away, the wind breaking around his ears that he could not hear a word that escaped Jeno’s lips. It only looked like he was mouthing along with something.

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear…”Jaemin pointed to his ears than to the road behind Jeno, “…because of the truck.”

“Damn trucks.” Jeno whispered to himself, before finally meeting Jaemin’s yes with his own crinkling smile, “Nothing. Nothing important, really.”

“Okay, then.” An awkward silence was passed, “Are you sure you don’t want to come in? The air-conditioner is a good one, it feels like damn Antarctica in there. Not that I’ve been there myself. Are you sure? You could relax until we get our rooms allocated and we can go out for a drink. There bare pubs—”

“No. It’s okay. You must be tired too and drinking on top of that, will be too much.”

“Right.”Jaemin nodded, as some of his hair strands tickled his forehead, “Thanks for being a gentleman to us, this whole day. Chenle got someone to gush about, and that is perhaps the only good thing that came out of this.”

“Yeah.” Jeno breathed out.

“So, see you whenever or wherever.”

“Unless they both…” Jeno pointed out over Jaemin's shoulder, an excited Chenle who was then mounted on the headrest of the couch, “…go out on dates or something.”

“I guess there’s that too.”

Jeno hummed before raising his hand to give a salute against his forehead, “Bye. Until next time, to your service.”

Jaemin imitated his gesture and ended it with a curtsy.

Jaemin waited for a bit, outside the sliding doors, before passing a look behind his shoulders. Jeno was walking towards his car, inserting his dangling keys in the slot. He sighed, before stepping into the hotel, as the sliding door revealed faux Antarctica to him, in all its glory.

Jeno, on the other hand, desperately blamed himself for shutting his mouth. As he walked to his car, he imagined punching himself several times on his face, for the reason that he still couldn’t ask his number for the second time that day. It was his second chance, and yes, circumstances were like that, he couldn't simply blabber out his want for the latter’s number and come out as sleazy. However, he could have put effort.

He comforted himself, reminding that there was Jisung and he could easily get Jaemin’s number through him. But it would be late then, right? He would appear as a coward and nothing more.

“Fuck!” Jeno groaned to himself, rummaging for his keys inside his pockets. As he dipped his keys into the slot, his passport suddenly fell on the road as something white slipped from his insides. He bent on his haunches as he caught the white chit in his hands before it could roll away with the wind. Opening the front door, he threw his passport on to the front seat, and settled in the driver's seat, with the chit still curled up in his hand.

Flicking the light on, he scrutinized the paper closely, reading the contents typed in.

“What’s this? Freaking WIFI password.”

He turned the paper, and could swear he felt his heart crawling up his chest. Written in a flourish cursive, was Jaemin’s name and his number right beneath it, with the zero circled over and over again. Under that, he could see a small smiley face, staring at him from the paper and scratched over heart, which Jaemin might have thought was too misinterpreting so he cut it off. But all in all, Jeno found himself beaming so maddeningly that if people could look through the glass, he would have thought he was a lunatic. But the world was already full of it, so Jeno could care less.

“So he gave you his number? Just randomly signed it off in a piece of paper.” Jisung muttered as he gobbled down a piece of meat after dabbing in the soya sauce.

“Yeah, I just reenacted the whole thing in front of you.”

“Cool.” The younger, paying no head, as Jeno expected, to the meticulously detailed story he recited over the barbecue. It was the next morning, and Jeno was severely sleep deprived while Jisung was floating in the cloud, with thoughts and words of Chenle kept him alive and thriving. Inexplicably, Jisung called him for a serving of raw meat, and that it was his treat. An instance that seldom happened.

“You know these things come off the cuff and I’m glad we offered them a ride, even though you first disagreed too.” Jisung pointed at Jeno with his chopsticks, before returning to his bowl of rice.

“Well, they were strangers. I couldn’t possibly—”

“Pretty strangers. You wouldn't say it, but you knew it.”

“I guess.”Jeno mused as he played around with the leftover pork fat, which clung on the insides of the silver bowl. He looked over his shoulders, and found two or more drunk customers, swaying from side to side with inebriated gestures only adding to their low standards. He wrinkled his nose and returned to flipping the sizzling meat to its other side, having the fog cloud his glasses with a white curtain. As he picked one cooked piece of meat onto his plate, he noticed how the table had stains of previous drinks etched on the birch wood. He sighed, as he darted his eyes over at Jisung who was nose deep into his servings.

The side dishes, on the other hand, were plentiful and delicious as well.  _ Chef’s kiss _ .

“The restaurant should put some effort into its service.” Jeno grumbled, rubbing his nose tip, “I mean, the host was gone half of the time, and he let our meats burn. Thank god, I saved it.”

Their unappetizing dinner curtailed to an end, as they both stood up and ambled to the counter. Jisung rubbed his neck, thinking of an excuse to put up with Jeno’s endless complaints about the food, or the dingy table also had some gibes about the battered menu. Jisung dismissed him and deemed Jeno must have been so antsy, because of Jaemin and how he rambled on and on about him.

“But this is all I could afford,” Jisung chirped, pushing on Jeno’s side as they lined up to the front. It was surprising that the restaurant had the number of customers as it did because the service was shit, “Also, this was the only restaurant that was open at the wee hours of the morning.”

“I guess there you have it. Cheap and early hours, drunkards’ den.”

Jisung hummed, as they moved a step ahead. There were still four customers queuing up in front.

“I’m driving Chenle to the mall.”

Jeno gave a teasing chuckle, poking his fingers in Jisung’s biceps, “Oh are you?”

“He asked me to. Taxis are difficult to find, he said.”

“Okay.” Jeno didn’t question further as he repressed a chuckle, “That explains why you were off your bum so early in the morning. I was thinking if you have changed or woke up from the right side of the bed.”

“Not to be conceited but both.”

Jeno swung his hands over Jisung’s shoulder and pulled him close, “Let’s keep it at that. Also, that makes the two of us. I really hurt my hip rolling off my bed.”

As they finally reached the counter, the cashier looked at them with narrowed eyes. Jisung quickly managed out his wallet from his pocket and slithered up some cash from the compartments. He sidled them over the counter, as the cashier snatched it from the metal top. She grumbled some inaudible words under her breath, and if Jeno cared to listen to them, it would have turned out to be ill-profanities. She bunched up changes over the top and waved her hand dismissively so the next customer, who turned to be unsurprisingly a drunkard, could walk in.

“Want me to take them to your work?” Jisung popped up, as they exited the cafe, breathing in the polluted air of the stinking back alleys. A lonely bark of a dog echoes through the empty alleyway, as they grind their soles against the graveled path. The light from the restaurant served a dim highlight along with their shoes, while the sun continued scathing their skin to itchiness and sweat.

“No way.” Jeno shook his head aggressively as his hands followed with similar ministrations, “Don’t do it. I am warning you.”

“I am just kidding.” Jisung playfully punched Jeno’s arm, “I can…but since you said not to, I’m not.”

\---

“Oh god…waking you up is a chore.” Jaemin could hear the faint rumble of Chenle’s nagging, as he slowly stripped away from his harrowing and equally confusing dream about…he couldn’t really remember. He let out soft, groggy whimpers, as he tossed and turned with the blankets coiled around his ankles, leaving half of his body exposed to the ruthless breeze of the air-conditioner. The rough fabric of the blanket caressed his cheeks, as he pressed his face deeper against it. The lack of sleep from yesterday was benevolent enough to let him indulge in a deep slumber and a dreadful nightmare that he didn’t want to get out of.

“You ought to let your sleep control you rather than your actual consciousness.” Chenle clicked his tongue, trying to yank the blanket off his legs but couldn’t, since Jaemin tightened his grip on the other end. As stubborn as it might have seemed, it wasn’t Jaemin’s fault that he wanted to sleep a little more after yesterday’s happenings. Chenle huffed as he relented, and released the blanket only to let it form a plop of fabric around Jaemin.

“Is it morning?” He whimpered hoarsely, as his eyes barely could focus on the deadpanned face Chenle was wearing, “Oh god, what time is it?”

“Well, accurately 1 past 10.” Chenle mumbled casually, letting a sigh tangle along with the words, “Get up if you don’t want our driver to wait.”

“Since when…” Jaemin sat up against the headboard, letting his heavy head lull against the hardwood, and looked at Chenle under his droopy eyelids “…do we have a driver?”

Chenle walked up to the TV, and switched it on with the remote. The sharp voice of the news reporter pierced through his ears, his consciousness becoming more awake as he stared at the blurred screen. The TV beckoned Jaemin from the drowsy state he was in, as he focused on the endless headline cutting through the channel’s footer. It was one of Chenle’s techniques, of waking up properly to let your eyes wander around a blue screen, to let your senses know that it was indeed morning. Don’t blame them; their college dorm barely had any sunlight to filter through into the rooms, so harsh phone screens and blasting TV were the only sources to strip you of any sleep.

“Since today. I called one.” Chenle turned, throwing the remote on the bed, “A special one.”

“Even if we have a special driver…” Jaemin mused, flipping the blanket to the side as he readied himself to get out of bed, “who doesn’t want to keep a driver waiting? It is the job of the driver to wait or to arrive punctually at a directed time.”

Chenle smiled as he padded towards him, inching his arm to get a hold of Jaemin’s hand. He pulled him off the bed, as the latter tiredly stood up. Jaemin proceeded to crack his knuckles on the top of his head, twisting his back from side to side and unwinding the knots settled on his elbows.

“So you say. But I’m afraid,” Chenle cleared his throat, “It is not the driver who is late but you, yourself. We have a lot of work to do, or better if I say, shopping because you know how I despise common landmarks.”

“This is the only aspect of you I like. I better spend my goddamn money on something worth wearing or eating than throw it on something…” Jaemin yawned loudly as he added, “…historical.”

“I’m glad.” Chenle shouted from the main room as Jaemin occupied himself with his shabby reflection on the mirror, “So less yapping and more stripping, yeah?”

_ Oh god, his dark circles are hideous. _ Jaemin thought as he had been already finished with freshening up, brushing his teeth clean, and sported an impeccable white shirt, with a ravishing indigo colored suit and spotless white sneakers. But what had come to his attention, after scrutinizing his face in the mirror for the past five minutes, was even though he had flaunted radiance and wealthiness by his chosen outfits, his skin failed to portray the same impression. Blemishes that took their sanctuary on his cheeks, lining up to his nose and on his sideburns.

Yes, pimples, reddened, and bloated. Perhaps, the jet lag had taken its toll.

“Your pimples look horrifying.” Chenle echoed from the back, as Jaemin met his eyes through the mirror and nodded, upturning his lips.

“You told it to me.” Jaemin muttered, turning the knob of the sink, “You told it to me but for god’s sake never tell it to a teen. They go wild.”

“I won’t.” Chenle’s voice muffled under the rush of the flowing water, “But I do have my makeup kit if you ever need it. It is more like a first aid kit for skin because I know you would never apply makeup to your skin.”

Jaemin turned off the knob, dabbing off the residue of water clinging to his face. With a final look of his face in the mirror, he sighed as he patted his cheeks. Craning back, he looked at Chenle with an impassive expression.

“It’s Jisung waiting for us downstairs, isn’t it?” He trudged forward, passing by a baffled Chenle before hurling the wet towel on his bed, “Seriously, doesn’t it bother him? A couple of foreigners, I must as well be counted as one, pestering-”

“He is the one who offered, okay?” Chenle excused, carrying the make up kit along with him. He pushed Jaemin on his bed, before rummaging through his kit and picked up a brush with a blob of cream, and proceeded to apply it to his face, “Plus, the weather forecast said it was supposed to rain. I didn’t want us to get drench while we hail for taxis.”

“There are plenty of waiting outside the hotel.”

“Jisung is someone we know.”

Jaemin let Chenle have the benefit of the doubt. Although he hadn’t said it through words exactly, his obliquely trimmed gestures resounded the sentiment. Chenle tipped his chin upwards, a somewhat impassive expression settled on his face,

“Don’t wash it off,” he said, quietly, before slipping his hand away from his face. He spun back, snooping in his pseudo-first aid kit, rearranging the brushes, and zipping away from the bag for good. The TV was still switched on for before, the noise softening with the background so Jaemin took it on him, to turn it off and rest the remote on top of the TV.

Chenle beckoned him quickly, as he was prompted to close the door behind him. Jaemin lurked behind for a while, his hands fumbling in front of him as he was feeling antsy all of a sudden. The source of his nervousness was unknown but what might have caused it, would have been a swift look at his phone. On the black background image of his screen, contrasting the bright pink and busy display of Chenle’s, was a single notification banner saying,

“ _ Good Morning :) _ ” The smiley face only added to his suffering rather than soothe his pain.

Jaemin grabbed his sunglasses and sported it on his face to hide his blemishes and dark circles that seemed to crowd his eyes. The last thing he needed was to be embarrassed by Chenle’s to-be-boyfriend (or boyfriend of a day- he didn’t quite understand their terms).

As he stepped out of the hotel, the sun withheld its reputation of scathing civilians to aching heat stroke. Chenle led in front, neck snapping from right to left as he searched for Jisung’s car in the hoards of other vehicles lined up. Of course, taxis were in abundance but Jaemin didn’t want to say anything, that could cause a puerile banter of who was right and who was wrong.

“There!” Chenle pointed somewhere Jaemin could quite focus, his darkly tinted sunglasses obstructing his view terribly, “That idiot!” As he said so, Jaemin couldn’t help but notice a small smile lifting Chenle’s lips as he approached the car with glee.

Jaemin didn’t waste time opening the back door and ducked his head down, to meet Jisung staring back at him.

“Aren’t you chirpy?” Jaemin gibed, adding a breath at the end.

Jisung passed a tight-lipped smile, darting his eyes to an fro from Chenle, who was already sitting at the front as he fixed his seat belt, to Jaemin, who looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“Hello to you too,” Jisung replied, clearing his throat. Jaemin didn’t say anything and unbuttoned his coat, as he slipped in the backseat. He enticed a sigh, squeezing his eyes closed, and felt the artificially, commercially reeked AC, crawling up his nose.

“Don’t worry!” piped Chenle from the front, “Jisung is not the one failing his driving test at his first try.”

“Nor the second,” added Jisung.

“Oh goody,” Jaemin replied monotonously, eyes still curtained shut. He knew what they were implying, but he didn’t have the strength to indulge in their teasing.

The car started with a violent rumble, as Jisung smoothly backed the car and headed straight, towards the main, hubbub induced street. Jaemin heaved gravely under his breath, his sunglasses slipping down his nose bridge, as patchiness collected under his chin. He knew. If his finger had grazed one inch of the window, he would have retracted his hand in a millisecond.

He could hear the two whispering and giggle softly. Sometimes Jisung would speak out loud, to which Chenle would reprimand him with a pinch on his thigh. Jaemin slept with one eye open, taking note of their ‘hidden’ motions until he couldn’t ignore.

“What are you two scheming about?” Jaemin said straightly, eyes fixed on their tangled hand kept on the gear, “I am not deaf, you know?”

“Nothing.” Chenle piped, unnecessarily waving his hand, as it did nothing to convince Jaemin.

“When you say nothing, it usually means something.” Jaemin rolled his eyes and folded his hands on his chest.

“We are going for breakfast. Fine?” Chenle exasperated, covering Jisung’s hand on the gear with his, giving it a little squeeze.

“Oh good.” Jaemin patted his stomach over his coat, “I am starving.”

Jaemin looked outside the darkly hued windows, as it dimmed the usual perky summer glimmer. He scrunched his nose, as his eyes followed the series of glassed buildings and cues of people hovering on the streets, waiting for buses and chatting up their colleagues, who looked bored and tired out of their wits. Perhaps, it might have Jaemin’s perception. There were some dingy, puny shops, with signboards hanging upon carved with Hangul lettering, that left little imagination to what the shop could offer. Jaemin could have used shopping in those departments, to rekindle his memories from when he was a kid. Now that he thought about it again, it was better forgotten.

He wanted to ask Chenle to stir over to a roadside restaurant that could have provided warm seaweed soup. After all, Korea does it better than all the pseudo ‘authentic’ Korean restaurants Korea town had. A little kimchi too, he pondered. How much better it would have tasted than those can ones he found in New York bodegas?

But of course, he kept those thoughts concealed to himself.

Jaemin tipped one corner of his lips, sighing inwardly. He didn’t know where he was heading, what Chenle and Jisung were up to except playing handsie right in front of himself, or why the hell he was feeling groggy, even though 12 hours of sleep would have been satiating enough.

After 20 minutes of peeling his eyes wide open, so that he would lull back to sleep, Jisung screeched the car halt and announced that they had reached. It was rather a narrow alley, with cafes and restaurants stationed right and left. With narrow alleyways like those, you would associate it with being dismal or simply keep it out of sight. But what welcomed him, was a clean route, lengthening up to another turn to another attached alley. Some people were waiting in line, buzzing with gossips as they leaned on bricked walls of some certain cafe.

It was unconventional, reminding him slightly of the time he once visited Paris, and it had those open courtyard cafes, where he would sit and sip tea, acting pretentious. The cafe they stopped at, captured those unbridled sentimental emotions, with its pristine white walls, and a minimalist board, which signed off the cafe’s name to something Parisian. The owner might have a kink for French, which was visible with the kitsch, posters of French girls hung on the inside, which was visible from the wide window. He could make out someone, hovering inside with a tray balanced on his hand. The sunglasses made it harder to pin-point.

“You want to come along or are you going to stand here, letting the hot-ass day feed you?” Chenle was already halfway on the stairs that lead to the entrance before he craned back.

“I’m coming,” Jaemin answered softly, still unable to tear his eyes from the mighty exterior that the cafe held. It induced a sense of reminiscence in him, a strange feeling of loss bubbled inside him as his eyes glanced over the ragged walls, white distemper chipping off.

“When you say, ‘coming’, you meant it like a sloth.” Chenle was suddenly by his side, linking his arms around his own as he tried to drag him towards the entrance, “Are you possessed by a sloth today? You are incredibly slow.”

Jaemin groaned under his breath, as he let Chenle drag him away.

“See! You are not even arguing.”

The door swung open. The reek of croissants felt up his nose, plastering itself on his nostrils as the burnt smell of ground coffee stuck on his clothing like lint. Jisung was away somewhere, as he couldn’t see him anywhere. Chenle excitedly pointed to the diverse menu, which was filled with various food items, ranging from mere breakfast to a pick-me-up. His hand was still curled around Jaemin’s own arms, which he yanked from side to side, bragging about the varieties the cafe provided. If he didn’t know any better, he would deem Chenle was one of its promoting agents.

“You know what, I can’t choose.” Chenle tightly smiled, “What would you like?”

“I would like to have seaweed soup.”

Chenle knitted his eyebrows, frowning, “What do you mean, ‘seaweed’? The menu has nothing of that sort.”

“I know. But I would like to have it. If this cafe slash brunch bar doesn’t have it, let’s go somewhere else.”

“No!” Chenle pulled his arm from his constraint, “What is wrong with you, Jaemin? From where are you conjuring seaweed from?”

Jaemin remained tight-lipped before heaving a grave sigh. As he was about to say something, Jisung appeared behind Chenle, worry dawning on his face.

“You guys chose anything?” he said, nervously, “You guys…”He glanced up at Jaemin, “…You guys okay?”

“Jaemin is throwing tantrums.” Chenle said, before turning back to Jaemin, “What is this hype of seaweed?”

“I don’t like sandwiches.”

“Sure. You eat 3 in one sitting back at home now you can't have one-”

Jaemin passed a tight smile at Jisung, which he returned with one of his own. Chenle was fuming but it got the point across, just like he wanted. He knew to whom the cafe belonged to without any further hassle. Okay, there was a hassle and probably not the greatest way to be discreet but Chenle would calm down.

There was a tap on Jaemin’s shoulder, and searching Chenle’s face and how it soothes down to a soft smile, he could guess who was behind. If it wasn’t the person he intended then- he looked behind and there he was.

Jeno grinned and gave a small wave. With that close proximity, Jaemin couldn’t quite judge what he was wearing but he liked the new style his hair had equipped. The long blonde strands now fell upon his eyes, almost hiding his features behind a light golden curtain. His skin looked better than; his tiredness washed away, replacing with glint residing on his cheeks. Jaemin returned his greeting with a bow of his head and bit back a smile.  _ Of course, the cafe belonged to Jeno. _

“What’s up with you two?”

“I was just riling Chenle up. No big deal.” That met a loose grip around Jaemin’s neck, as Chenle pulled him back.

“He says he won’t eat the wonderful menu you have. Don’t mind, please.” With his other hand, Chenle tried to bend Jaemin’s neck in a bow and said with a stern motherly voice, “Apologize to the kind mister.”

“It’s okay, really. You mind if I steal him a bit?” Jeno said, with the same commercialized smile adorning his face. Chenle’s arms slowly uncurled from his neck, and Jaemin was sure he was wearing the same dumbfounded expression he had.

“You can have whatever you have on the menu. On the house…” Jeno wagged a finger at Jisung, “Including you too. But only for today.” he turned to Chenle, “You can always come here. Free of charge.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to use your offer well.”

Jeno shot out his arms and grabbed Jaemin by his arm and pulled him towards him, “Side note. Rather than the sandwiches, I would go for the waffles.”

“I’ll show Chenle around. You can go.” Jisung clicked his tongue and showed Jeno a victory sign which Jeno accepted with a nod.

As quickly as Jaemin entered the cafe, he was outside again. The people from before were gone and the staircase was empty. Jeno was still holding his wrist, albeit loosely and if Jaemin wanted, he could remove his hands from his grip. But he held out that thought.

“I know this restaurant,” Jeno craned his neck to look at him, “They make a mean bowl of seaweed soup. I think I like traditional, hearty breakfast over pretentious breakfast meals sold there. I know it's my own cafe and I’m not really appealing my cafe, am I?”

“You are failing , if I say so.” Jaemin chuckled, and Jeno left his wrist. Jaemin climbed down and joined Jeno, walking beside him. He deemed it was better that way, rather than some atrocious ride by a car again.

“Aren’t you hot?” It caught Jaemin off-guard but he realized Jeno must have been talking about the weather. After all, Jaemin layered a blue coat over his inner shirt, and looking at him, civilians must have thought autumn had come around.

“I’m cool. I’m fine.” Jaemin dismissed it with a smile.

“You did think I was calling you hot, didn’t you?” Jeno pointed out, pointing at him teasingly, “I’m not like you, you know?”

Jaemin hung his head low, “Now how far did you say the restaurant was?”

Saying it was a restaurant would be an overstatement, it had more of a run-down image, owned by a family business kind of dingy noodle house. Painted on their window with a shade of vermilion was the name, ‘Kim’s Soup” and of course, as common the name was, there was not much of a crowd hovering over their shabby glazed doors. All in all, Jaemin was dubious and Jeno’s lit up expression contradicted his own, so he softened his prejudiced opinions and tagged along inside.

But what the exterior had not offered, was how their soup was top-notch, melting on his tongue the minute he took a sip. Bland slightly, was the broth yet the right amount of seasoning stuffed in the seaweed leaves floating on the surface like green boats. He took a bite of tangy Kimchi, which set a precedent of deliciousness inside his cavern, that he doubted he would find the same authentic taste in any other food he would eat thereafter. He gobbled up another mouthful of the soup, the briny edge of the oil-infused broth was taken aback by the wilt seaweed leaves. It was awful how he couldn’t stop devouring the food placed in front; he looked like a starved man which was embarrassing, to say the least.

“So, how was it?” Jeno asked when Jaemin was in the last bites of the kimchi, mixed in a bowl of white rice which he ordered later, “The verdict?”

“I think-” Jaemin cleared his throat, the churn of kimchi passed through his throat, “-I think the way I ate the food says it all. Like a starving hobo.”

“No. You didn’t look like a hobo but I must say, hungry? It looked like you haven’t eaten such food in years.”

“True in some sense.” Jaemin chuckled, letting his spoon along the rim of the bowl, “Did you enjoy yours?” he pointed at the half-devoured bowl of rice on Jeno’s side, and sparsely eaten bowl of soup.

“Sure. I was a bit full from today’s morning. I ate like the unhealthiest breakfast, in the shabbiest corner of the earth.”

“BBQ at 5 o’clock in the morning?” Jaemin raised his palm, “I get it.”

Jeno grinned and curled his finger in the air to signal the owner that the breakfast was finished. The owner was a man in his 50s, hunchbacked, and gray hair sticking out like static. Jaemin handed his plate and Jeno did too, after playing Tetris with the bowls and spoons so that it would not tumble off. The old man thanked them and asked if they enjoyed the breakfast, to which Jaemin passed on pleasantries.

“You didn’t reply to my ‘good morning’ message.” Jeno bit his lips, feigning tentativeness, “I waited, you know.”

The thought occurred to Jaemin instantly, the unfamiliar and intermittent bubbled inside him, settling on his lower abdomen with a growl. He imitated a tight-lipped smile, enticing a nervous chuckle afterward.

“Do you want me to send you one now?” Jaemin dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled his phone out, “I am not really good at answering messages. Or phone calls.” he said so as to not cover the fact that it was nerve-wracking even taking a glance at his phone, and not appear haywire later.

“Never mind.” Jeno sulked, “It’s afternoon anyway.”

Someone entered the restaurant, and padded up to the counter, mumbling something incoherent. Jeno followed his trail and sneaking the opportunity Jaemin crunched up some word on his phone, finally replying back. Not to yet again appear misleading, he cleared off the smiling emoticon he added after the text.

Jeno returned his attention back to him and Jaemin swiftly hid back the phone under the table. He threw a glance back at him and retracted his eyes back again onto his lap. A ding resounded through the restaurant, and the owner and the customer from earlier looked at Jeno strangely. The latter took out his phone from his phone in a hurry and unlocked his phone with a click. Jaemin noticed how his eyes stretched, and a smile eventually shaped itself on his lips.

What flowed across the screen was,

**“alright then. good afternoon :)”** The smiley was included again. Jaemin didn’t bother to delete it.

“Messaging is not really your forte, is it?” Jeno grinned playfully, his fingers tapping against his phone’s edge.

“This is really what you take from one message?” Jaemin guffawed, itching his nape in chagrin, “But yeah, I admit, I am not really good at these things.”

“Ah…we have a boomer among us.” Jeno pinched his nose bridge, sucking in through his teeth. Seeing Jaemin pout in perturbation right after, he wagged his arms, excusing that he was the same.

“You should see how Jisung’s types….” Jeno continued, “On another world, they are in really.”

Jaemin took another look at his phone and contemplated the myriad of emoticons flashed right in front of him. He decided that it was not necessary that he should send another emoticon just for fun so he returned the phone right into his pocket.

“What do you think Jaemin and Chenle are up to?” Jaemin lid across the table, halfheartedly twisting his numb hip. Pin and needles were starting to take refuge on his ankles and soles. But he still didn’t want to leave, he wanted to prolong that moment as long as he could. Until Jeno was tired of him, he assured himself.

“ _ Snogging _ , I assume.” Jeno cocked one of his eyebrows up, and Jaemin snickered.

“Good one.” Jaemin pointed out, slumping back against the hard plastic chair, “I’ll give you that.”

“Jokes aside, I think they are really enjoying their time. Jisung having two left legs, I doubt that he won’t screw things up at some point and I pray that he could, for once, see it through.” Jaemin nodded, and Jeno continued with a sigh, “you know, I met Jisung when I was eleven. My neighbor just left and Jisung’s family were the new tenants moving in. I was excited obviously, I get to make new friends. But Jisung turned out to be two years younger, and a bit childish. Of course, that is what you should expect from a 9-year-old. Anyway…” Jeno mulled for a second, fingers playing with the corner of a stray tissue paper he found, “…the first day I met him, was on the street. He barely knew me, yet he took the candy I gave him as an ice-breaker. The candy also was an icebreaker-'’”

“You really have a talent for humor.” Jaemin smiled, as he wavered his finger at him.

“If only other people…”Jeno heaved, “So, Jisung…he took the candy so easily, I was surprised.”

“Oh wasn’t he revised with the stranger danger protocol?”

“Nope. Are you?”

“Judging by how I just ate breakfast with you, a person I got to know only yesterday…” Jaemin shrugged, “I don’t think so.” Jaemin took a breath in before he added, “I am also, not abiding by that universal rule when I am saying that you look really cute when you talk like that.”

“I am taking that as a compliment.” Jeno’s cheeks tinged with a certain color, that Jaemin only knew existed in TV shows. A faint color of pink.

“Now that you are entranced by that sudden compliment, “Jaemin suddenly stood up, “First up to the counter pays.” Saying that Jaemin took a run while Jeno buffered in his own stance for a while, before realizing.

“Hey! Not fair!” Jeno nagged from behind while Jaemin hurriedly passed up some cash across the cashier. The owner smiled, as he shared looks in between Jeno and Jaemin once and twice. Jaemin turned around to peek a tongue at him before he inclined back to the cashier to take the receipt with a word of thanks. The owner nodded subtly as Jaemin added before walking back,

“I can’t say this with certainty but I hope I’ll be back.”

“Be back whenever you want, kid.” He placed his finger behind Jaemin’s shoulder causing Jaemin to crane his neck, eyes falling on Jeno’s sitting with his legs squeezed together, still playing with that stray piece of tissue. He looked heavenly, not that Jaemin wanted to admit. However, his inadvertent smile said a lot more than he would.“Come along with him, if you may.”

“Sure.”


	3. you like Netflix?

Jeno puttered the car to a stop, landing just beside the hotel entrance. The people were dissipating to a few sparsely located tourists, taking sanctuary underneath the willow tree that stood nearby. Some were having burger takeouts, sitting cross legged on the pavements, which looked demeaning and outwardly weird. Jaemin looked out from the window, scanning his surroundings before heaving audibly, which made Jeno swing his neck up from his phone.

“How late do you think Chenle would be?” His voice lowered down to a whisper, “We were supposed to go shopping.”

“I think he would be here in a matter of an hour or so.” Jeno licked his lips, mulling on his words for a while, “Do you want to take a tour of the highway? Not to brag, I know every nook and cranny of this part of the town like the back of my hand.”

Jaemin shifted on his haunches, inclining forward to fix the creases of his pants. The corner of his lips twitched, as he thought he might be moving too fast if he agreed to Jeno’s offer. Not that he had any particular obligations to attend at his hotel or had half the mind to spend a boring-ass evening watching Korean soap areas as the delivery food takes years to come.

“I don’t think so.” Jaemin looked up from his pants, “Do you mind?”

“No. Obviously not.” But the excessive wave of his hands said otherwise. Jaemin pretended not to see his disappointment, that was etched on Jeno’s face.

“Well, I guess I’ll smell you later!” With a small wave, out in the warm, humid wind was Jaemin, still wallowing in regret of not taking the courage to go out on a drive. But on the other hand, it seemed like a rational contemplation, it would be too much if he let him slip by him too fast. He slammed the door behind him, as he caught Jeno beaming at him from the slid down window. Jeno’s hands were curled around the steering wheel, while he inclined his head towards the hotel,

“Have some rest, okay?” and then proceeded to point at Jaemin’s pocket, “If you are too bored, text me.”

“I don’t think I will.” Jaemin teased, before cutting a two-fingered salute and Jeno mirrored him the same.

The car rushed by, leaving a blob of loneliness, causing it to slowly spread in Jaemin’s tired and heavy limbs. The forecourt was washed in reminiscence of the warm and horrifying cuts of sun rays, and as Jaemin walked by, it felt his soles were drilled in with lava. The golden route was extended till the stairs that ascended to the concierge, where he met Jeno last night. The verdant trees were swaying in the brazen blue zephyr of the summer, settling in the visible collarbones of his. He grabbed the hem of his suit, as he climbed up the stairs, and turned back only to meet the few stares of the tourists squatting and an empty street. For an instant, he thought Jeno would be there, wheeling back to keep him company.

It was too much to expect of a stranger, he deemed. In the end, loneliness and the artificial smell of blueberries that coated the walls of the hotel, supported him as he made his way to his room. Defeated, he seemed to be but he was accustomed to it. The past standing as a boulder-like proof of it.

He plopped on his bed, his back meeting the soft blankets which were freshly washed, evident that the hotel staff had done a room clean up just recently. He played around with his coat, as the air conditioner scurried up his legs, with fingers tip-toeing around the bulge of his phone. He dug it out from his pocket and it was the message that had been sent 5 minutes ago.

**thank you for having breakfast with me.**

The unknown number that appeared on the surface was edited to his Jeno’s name. He realized he never got to know Jeno’s last name.

**more like brunch for you.**

The phone dinged almost instantly as if Jeno was waiting for his message.

**looks like you got bored real quick, huh?**

**didn’t want to keep you waiting?**

**you have a way with words**

**i like it**

**so people say…**

**btw, i don’t even know your last name**

**con man**

**we literally had our passports exchanged**

**don’t you remember it?**

**i am really bad with names though**

**why? are you really bad at it?**

**being a con man, i mean**

**if I didn’t have what it took,**

**you wouldn’t have been convinced**

**touche**

**last name?**

**you tell me**

**ok,**

**if you are not giving me that**

**guess what im naming you?**

**con man?**

He took the effort to change Jeno’s name for the second time and replaced it with, “con man” He turned around so that he was lying face down on the bed while typing. Among the mindless teasing and pulling Jeno’s legs, the latter finally gave up his last name. It was ‘Lee’. Simple and common. But Jaemin still didn’t have what it took to revert the name back so he stuck with the pokemon catchline.

However, when Jaemin was in the shower, when Chenle came back after a good 1 hour of frisking with Jisung, Chenle noticed the sudden onslaught of texts that came in the name of “con man”. Jaemin could empathize with Chenle, when he was freaked out and asked,

“Hey…Jaemin…” He asked nervously, “Are you in some weird group chat that I don’t know of?”

Since Jaemin was in the shower, and the rush of the shower hindered him from hearing anything properly, “I can’t hear you.”

“Come back from the shower and I’ll give you a dressing down.”

“I still can’t hear you!” Jaemin repeated and Chenle held his head in his hands and sighed.

“Are you in some weird group chat I don’t know of?” Chenle asked, eyebrows furrowed as if he searched Jaemin's face for slip-ups. Jaemin was bare of any clothes, so he trembled his way to the wardrobe and pulled a simple tee out.

“If I was in any kind-” He popped the tee over his face, and slipped his hands in the sleeves, “-of weird group chat, you’ll be the first to know.”

“So what is this 80s flop movie of a name doing in your contacts?” Chenle waved the phone at him and for sure he could see Jeno’s name texts. Jaemin only guffawed out loud, holding his stomach as he did so.

“Oh, that.” Jaemin pointed, “It’s Jeno. He wasn’t giving me his last name so I just named it that.”

Chenle twisted his face, in confusion and handed the phone back to him.

“I didn’t peep into your texts, just saying.”

“I know.”

“So nicknames…”

“We are still far... FAR…” he empathized, “…from that.”

Later that day, as both of them settled comfortably among the strewed blankets, and messily arranged pillows, Chenle ordered for some delivery. The simple delivery curtailed some prawn fritters, a double serving of seasoned fried chicken, and a plate of sundae (blood sausage) along with a bowl of spicy red rice cakes. What happened was, Jisung had taught Chenle earlier that day on ordering food swiftly, _ baedal,  _ on convenient apps on phone. Of course, Chenle, impatient to try it by himself, ordered a bunch of food he saw in the recommendation page and Naver blogs, which Jaemin knew he couldn’t eat all himself without suffering gastritis or constipation the next day.

So, Jaemin was more or less pestered on sharing some of the servings and they both decided to leave the leftovers for next day’s breakfast. They could survive two meals of the day on one serving alone. However, to Jaemin utter excitement, it had been a while since he had tasted the tangy seasonings of authentic Korean cuisine. Be it street food, or simple delivery ones, he had been itching to get his hand on the myriads of food choices they offered. Next time, he hoped, he would get to eat _ sujebi _ .

While they were munching on the prawn fritters, the crunchy tail caught in between Jaemin’s lips, Jeno texted him after approximately 3 hours. Yes, Jaemin uselessly kept count. He simply asked if Jaemin was having fun and if the shows on TV were up to any good. Jaemin choked on some of the rough, oily skin of the fritters, as he struggled to type out an answer. Chenle bothered less, as he kept his attention fixed on the widescreen TV, displaying the recent episodes of The Crown. They opted for Netflix more quickly than you think.

**we are in the middle of Netflix and chilli.**

**chill-no!**

**chilli-yes~**

**oh did you finally order food?**

**yes-we are in the middle of devouring it**

**DND**

**nyam ;)**

“You don’t think Prince Phillip is that of a bastard, do you?” Chenle asked, pulling Jaemin’s attention from his mobile screen.

“Huh?”

“Were you texting him again?” Chenle tried to peek over Jaemin’s shoulders, and Jaemin easily dodged his phone away. Chenle wrinkled his expression and moved away to his original position.

“We are watching something together, Jaemin.” Chenle said sternly before he sidled up to Jaemin’s sides and pressed his head on his shoulders, “Let’s do that.”

It was moments like that, Chenle would decide to cuddle up to Jaemin for his own benefit. But, Jaemin liked it anyway. Quality time with Chenle was rare even when they were actually roommates back in New York.

After the hours-long binge of The Crown, Chenle was visibly sleepy as he perched his slumped back against a hill of pillows, his eyes drooping close. Jaemin passed a look at him, switching the TV off amid and then jumped off the bed, to grab the blankets from the cupboard. He, then, gingerly pulled the blanket over Chenle, who had long drifted to sleep, and tucked him in up to his chin.

It wasn’t deep into the night yet, the clock hands showing 10 in the pm. The day was obviously dilly-dallied with their own laziness and the inevitable bug not to lounge outside, or take walks up to the nearest malls or plazas. Jaemin sighed, as he drew the curtains open only to meet the glimmering city lights, the cars revving through the streets like wind and the soothing yellow filter that was cast all over the night view. He grieved a sigh, as he looked back at Chenle and then back at the window. He wasn’t necessarily counting down days…but still, everything back there in his own home country felt so unfamiliar. He couldn’t wait to go  _ home _ .

Jaemin deliberated on taking a walk outside, to lift up his mood but he soon brushed it off, saying he would rather sleep the worries off. However, as he unlocked his phone to check if there were any new messages; Jeno apparently sent him a link to a playlist.

**listen to it when you feel lonely.**

**see you tomorrow**

**good night :D**

It wasn’t a good night for Jaemin, as the infesting train of thoughts seemed to eat him up but, the music echoing in his ear, as the earbuds pressed against his ear conch made him feel a lot lighter.

“So you are our appointed driver for today?” Jaemin chuckled helplessly, as he kept the car door opened wide while he peered inside. Chenle crept inside from the other side, sulking that Jisung was occupied for the day, with his own job.

“Do everything in my trajectory to help you.” Jeno beamed, as he quickly inclined his head towards the front seat, “Seat in the front, will you?”

“Sure.” He slammed the back door as he ducked in the front seat. Jeno looked at him inexplicably, before breaking into a smile which Jaemin gladly mirrored.

“If you two are done flirting with your eyes, can we get this car on the road?” Chenle lamented, and Jaemin made sure to stick out his tongue at him through the peer glass.

“Buckle up.” Jeno hummed, gripping the steering wheel tight. They had intended to give a twirl of the Lotte Duty-Free, which was situated in Euljiro, a ten-minute ride there. Chenle nagged that they could have walked there but Jaemin paid no mind.

Jeno accompanied them inside the gargantuan shopping mall, which had arrays of designer shops lined up from right to left. With handsome men trying to advertise the products and leaving them with perfume samples which they kindly accepted, they were bewildered by the numerous restaurants crowded downstairs, right beside a petite congested departmental store. What floated the air was the distinct smell of freshly baked bread, and a hint of delicious sweet mooncakes which later Jeno pointed out was on the opposite side of the department store. They followed him there and purchased red bean jelly and Jeno bought them a loaf of bread with two packets of macarons.

The crowd was thickening even though it was barely 12 in the afternoon. They crammed themselves in between undulating rows of people, inaudible screeches piercing through their days as they tried to beeline to near the stairs.

“Do you guys have anything else to buy?” Jeno screamed over the buzz of the people making their way up. Some groups of Chinese men shoves against their shoulders, causing Jaemin to trip backward.

Chenle shouted something back in Chinese to which they ignored

“It’s okay.” Jaemin squeezed Chenle’s wrist. Chenle took his word and nodded.

Jeno tried to placate the situation by shoving a small gift bag into Jaemin’s hands as they were ascending up the escalator. Taken aback, Jaemin peeked into the pink bag and found a packaged mooncake, pink in color with floral designs carved onto the surface. The corners of Jaemin’s mouth quirked up, as he later mouthed,

“When?”

They boarded off the escalator, with Jeno tailing closely behind Jaemin, his finger grazing Jaemin’s back in a soft push. “A while back,” he whispered, sending a trail of goosebumps along Jaemin’s spine. Chenle shifted a glance at them at which Jeno resumed his normal posture and backed up a step. Deeming everything was fine, Chenle continued walking in front, both of them the following suit, snickering quietly.

The three entered the GUCCI shop, placed right beside the entrance where a surge of middle-aged women, some young kids hanging off their father’s arms, and some college students were coming in. Jeno stood in front of them, acting as sort of a barricade so they could step into the shop carefully. Confronting the diverse collection of belts and leather bags, Chenle was bewitched as he broke into a conversation with the shop clerk, acquiring if there was any specific bag from such a year. Jaemin didn’t pay attention to that and moved on, scanning through the glassed items, including a bedazzled key ring that he couldn’t even use if he had a field day, without losing it somewhere. It looked like instant regret, waste amassed into one. It seemed they cared less about the practicality than sewing up colorful threads to make it look dazzling enough for consumers to buy, so he decided to ignore that urge and move on.

“Are you-” He turned around, coming face to face with Jeno. Surprised, he snapped his head up to feign that he was still browsing through the items, “-thinking of buying something?”

“It’s very kitsch.” Jaemin commented, pointing at the aforementioned key ring, “I don’t know if I like it or not.”

“Oh.” Jeno pressed his lips, mulling on what words he should say next to convey what he had in mind.

“Will you buy something?” Jaemin asked, pulling Jeno from his thoughts as he then answered with a swift ‘no’.

Chenle was yet rifling through loads of choices spread in front of him, while the sales assistant tried to pursue him to purchase one of the items. All Jaemin could notice was Chenle bobbing his head, smiling politely but Jaemin knew Chenle’s mind had long drifted from the decision to buy something. However, soon after that, Chenle pushed his credit card along the counter and paid for a wallet, which he sort of liked. He said it would have been rude if he had left abruptly without losing something from his pocket and it would have been a waste of time on both sides. Jaemin nodded as a means of understanding. Jeno, who seemed more like the material of air than an actual appearance, popped up beside Jaemin.

“Where were you?” Jaemin chuckled, as he grabbed on Jeno’s wrist to pull him close, while the crowds of people were pushing onto their backs. Some of the retailers yet again push their samples onto their chest, commercialized smiles painted on their face as they recite words like memorized mantra. Jaemin would be lying if he didn’t think it was too prying. Jeno didn’t answer and plucked the sample right off the employee’s hand and imitated a similar leer.

They weaved among the crowds and took their sanctuary in the cafeteria. They fell silent, tired out of their wits. Chenle kept playing with his wrapped up wallet box, tipping it up and down in between his fingers. Jaemin looked at Jeno, finding him deep in his thoughts, as he kept his chin balanced on the palm of his hand. The crowd had died down there, meeting a few heads popping up in every two or three round tables.

“You guys want something?” Jaemin asked and the other two nodded pensively. Jaemin inhaled a grave air, and strutted in diction to the Korean Food section of the cafeteria. He ordered two servings of  _ gimbap _ and what he craved last night,  _ sujebi _ . It looked delicious, as Jaemin carried the order back at them. The emulsion of oil floated in the brimming warm soup, with bits and pieces of dough gathered below. On the other side of the tray, was two fat rolls of  _ gimbap _ , the rice sticking out in a colourful contrast with the slices of egg and cucumbers.

“Jisung is coming.” Chenle cheered, a little perked up than before. Jeno showed off his phone screen, Jisung’s message highlighted with tons of emoticons and live stickers following it. Jaemin placed the tray on the table and Jeno looked at them inexplicably awed.

”How did you know I love sujebi?” Jaemin shrugged and gestured at their respective plates, for them to dig in. Jaemin was glad that it took their mind off the horror that was shopping. Jaemin never despised shopping not in one instance of his life, however the environment they left behind was so smothering that they could help but buckle their knees, in helplessness.

Chenle tapped the chopsticks together, with his mouth crammed with a huge piece of kimbap. He struggled to gulp it down, before he said, “Yesterday, while I was out with Jisung…we were walking down the sidewalks and you know how there are little hawkers that sell cheap candies and chocolate.”

Jaemin bobbed his head, Jeno did too. Jaemin took a bite of the chewy dough and dunked it down with a spoonful of soup. The consistency of the soup is smooth against his tongue, saltiness gathered on the tip of it.

“So after that?” he questioned, as Chenle was too engrossed gobbling the rest of the kimbap pieces.

“So we went up to one and Jisung wanted to buy ice cream. I settled with a Ghana bar. While I was paying the money, the grandmother, who looked to be 80 at least, gave me some change and a flyer in return. The flyer as useless as one can be, had this showy heading like” He gestured, widening his arms above his head, “Looking for soulmates? It might be just the one beside you!”

“Sounds awfully dodgy and plain stupid.” Jaemin laughed, his chopsticks then playing around with the last piece of soggy dough. He looked at Jeno to see if he had any reaction to his face but he was weirdly quiet and simply blank.

“Just what I thought!” Chenle exclaimed, before slumping to a pout, “Jisung believes otherwise though. He was like what if we are soulmates.” He imitated Jisung so immaculately, Jaemin couldn’t help but laugh, “What were the odds that we, you and I, met. We might be-and all the other superstition shit. I just told him it was all in his head and I don’t have half the mind to engage in these obvious scams.”

Jeno hummed, before glancing up at Jaemin. Jaemin met his eyes, but Jeno averted his eyes onto his own untouched bowl of soup. He didn’t touch anything he bought. It appeared that he wasn’t particularly hungry. Before Jaemin could say anything, Chenle lunged his hand over the table and picked up a piece of dough and gulped it down.

“Wow…this is really delicious.”

“It’s my favorite. I looked for this in every traditional Korea restaurant back in New York, I couldn’t find any. I gave up after a few months.”

“Ah! Jisung is here.” Chenle pointed out casually behind him, as to hide his excitement. Jaemin turned back, and Jisung stood behind him, poking out two of his fingers in a victory sign.

“It sure is a victory!” Jaemin slurred, before gesturing to him to sit beside Chenle opposite of him, “Sit.”

Jeno pushed the bowl of soup towards without a word, and Jisung took a bite in a hurry. Before he could even chew it down, in between his clogged up words he managed to say, “Sorry. I was late.”

“Talk after you eat, idiot!” Jeno harshly whispered, elbowing him in the chest.

After he had finished up a considerable amount of serving, he let out a shivering breath.

“That was really good. Who should I thank?”

Chenle and Jeno pointed to Jaemin in unison.

“You’re welcome.” Jaemin smiled before Jisung could even say his thanks.

They walked back to the mall foyer served a calm demeanor than previously they had experienced. It resembled the calm after the storm, a lining of tranquility instead of the perspiration crammed into one. There were a lot fewer civilians pushing up to them so they hadn’t thread their steps, careful not to bump into anyone. But the retailers from before were still plenty, as they kept distributing flyers and flaps of sticks to them, urging them to check their shop out. They looked like the desperate sign flippers back in the roads of Long Island, except a lot cleaner and well-groomed.

Jaemin still accepted the flyer, which he shoved into his pockets without another glance. The others did too, of course regardless of the contents splayed out into the plastic-coated piece of paper. Rather bored, Jaemin crept up to Jeno’s side, nudging him with his elbow, asking him to break into a conversation. He seemed preoccupied, leaving a smile or two, a few nods here and there as if agreeing to every discourse Jaemin was blabbering for the last five minutes. He noticed the petite bag Jeno had been carrying only then, as it dangled to and fro. Before Jaemin could even ask, Jeno simply hid away from his sight and held on his other hand.

If anything, a bubble of nervousness formed in Jaemin’s lower abdomen, as he began to overthink the worst. _‘What if’_ s clouded his mind like a cursed spell, as he kept shooting his eyes anywhere but the stupid little bag. It might be for his girlfriend, he thought of first. Why didn’t he ever assume he was a free man from the start? Even if he did, Jeno should have left a trail of hints for him to follow up to the conclusion that he was taken.

“Where are you off to?” Jaemin wrung Chenle back, as the two birds seemed to be chirping something in between them. Chenle and Jisung were well ahead of them, while Jaemin and Jeno followed slowly behind. After a while or so, Jaemin noticed how the two wanted to flee the scene and leave them behind, so as to catch themselves alone and well, helplessly awkward.

“Washroom?” Chenle said, feigning innocence. But the answer seemed to backfire when Jisung blurted the same excuses upon questioning.

“You two were going scurry to the washroom, for what?”

“I don’t know…what people do when they take a washroom break.”

“Don’t play coy with me, young man.” Jaemin softly pinched Chenle’s ears as he snapped his eyes towards Jisung, “You! Don’t give in to his schemes.”

Chenle hissed, letting his hands hang in air as Jaemin had his fingers still playfully pinched around his ear cartilage. He left Chenle’s ears slightly red, even though he didn’t apply any force. Jeno studied their exchange and finally broke into a chuckle, catching Jaemin’s hand and pulling him back.

“Just for the sake of your alone time, we two are going to take off,” Jeno announced, with his hand still curled around Jaemin’s wrist, softly. Jaemin didn’t mind and only wished he would keep holding it longer and the edging anxiety of Jeno’s having someone else would lift off.

Luckily, it did. Jeno pulled him to the opposite direction of where Jisung and Chenle were heading and walked along the lane of luxury shops as if letting Jaemin decide which one to enter. The initial nervousness of that being an unannounced date still lounged at the back of his head, as the print of Jeno’s hands lingered around his wrist, setting him ablaze within himself. But of course, outwardly, he maintained calmness, as he craned his neck in direction of an OFFWHITE outlet. Jeno followed suit, the small GUCCI bag bugging him but he tried to push those thoughts far away.

“I have to purchase a man-to-man real quick.” Jaemin piped, pointing at the rack of monochromatic colored clothing, “I did some research and well, Korea seemed to have it at the cheapest.”

“You could have ordered it online,” Jeno mentioned as he trailed behind Jaemin, while he rifled through the heaps of sweatshirts, unable to set his mind on one. Jaemin shrugged at his remark, digging one shirt out but clicked his tongue at the unnecessary brand name slapped on the front.

“I really don’t get the meaning behind printing the brand name so obnoxiously on these tees. Ruins the appearance for me.”

“Ah.” Jeno hummed. Before Jaemin could process it, Jeno had squeezed himself beside Jaemin and raked through the clothes with him. He picked a raven knitted man-to-man, which was simply empty of the brand name but had a huge white cross painted at the back. Jaemin sighed and shook his head. Disappointed, Jeno inserted the sweatshirt back into the rack. After some minutes of pointless searching, Jeno was tired out of his wits while Jaemin was adamant to find at least something for himself.

Jaemin then noticed, during his fruitless attempts of finding something suitable, Jeno waltzing to the other corner of the outlet, where the denim jackets were hanging. He scrutinized the outfits gingerly, caressing each of the jacket’s sleeves with his own palm and Jaemin, unknowingly could the roughness of the fabric against Jeno’s skin. With a smile, Jeno dug one out, which had holes punctured on to the sleeves. Carrying the sleeves wide open, he joined Jaemin quickly and pushed him towards the full-height mirror attached to the wall.

“Come on. For me.” Jeno convinced as he held the jacket mid-air, waiting for Jaemin to slip his hands in. Jaemin concurred with a nod, widening his arms and wiggled himself inside the sleeves. Jeno flattened the creases on his arms, letting his touch linger on his biceps for a little longer. Jeno kept his eyes fixed on Jaemin’s through the mirror, as the latter relished in the heightened reflection of the two. Jaemin could feel his breath knot in his throat, as softly and slowly, Jeno danced his fingertips along his sleeves to the back and peppered down. He pressed his fingers ever so gently on his muscles, and Jaemin could feel the urge radiating through the layers of his clothing. Jeno averted his eyes lower, as he lost the eye contact Jaemin had relied on to maintain his reticence. He felt his knees could soon buckle, to the peak of bubbling anxiety that would coil around his throat and strangle him to defiance.

Jeno still played his theatre of uncertain and unexpected moves around his wings, apprehensively edging along his spine and rested his hands subtly on his waist. Only then did he look from behind him and ever so swiftly, meet him with an unwavering stare. It destroyed Jaemin from within, as he tried so hard to keep his composure in the middle of an empty store. The retail workers were reckless, as they kept their bay at the counter. They couldn’t follow what had decided to ensue in front of the mirror that had been planted in the middle of the store.

“You look nice.” Jeno hoarse along his ears and Jaemin could his voice tremble throughout his skin, “Buy it.”

“I guess-um-” Jaemin couldn’t form words honestly, “-I guess I will buy it.”

“Do that.” He could feel Jeno’s lips committing close to his ears but before he could even attempt anything unimaginable, Jaemin shrugged away from his hold and turned towards the direction of the counter.

A sneaky smirk had morphed on his lips, while he went over the tag of the jacket which boasted the price of 1000 dollars. Cheaper than those boutiques he visited in New York. Jeno soon came by the counter, imitating the same mocking smile as if they had both sworn not to mention that ungodly ( **_godly, truly_ ** ) affair again.

“Don’t ever creep on me like that ever again.” Jaemin quipped as he watched the saleswomen beeped his purchase, packaging it among white parchment. Jeno chortled as he patted Jaemin’s shoulders as a means of comfort. Every touch of his felt jittery, as it shot thunders of impulses inside every part of his body.

“Rest assured I am not attempting to the likes of that.” Jeno said as he walked to the exit, after giving their payment to the counter and the purchase was settled, “I mean if you don’t want it.”

“I don’t want it.” Jaemin rashly muttered, but if he thought about it, he wanted it a thousandfold more. He elbowed Jeno in the ribs lightly, causing the latter to exaggeratedly hunch down and chirp noises of feigned pain. He soon erected himself straight as they approached a more crowded part of the mall. Jeno, yet again, squeezed himself to Jaemin’s side and said,

“Sure you don’t.”

And, it looked like Jeno knew it too.

“You should really stop pressing yourself against me,” Jaemin said, beaming from ear to ear. Rather than looking annoyed, he looked like he enjoyed it. So no wonder, Jeno shrugged off his warning and only bumped his shoulders against his, until Jaemin petered in laughter. Some of the people passing by them gave them the stink eye due to the puerile commotion they had been up to. But for now, they didn’t simply care.

Jaemin had called Chenle a minute to know where to meet the other two and had learned they had been passing time in a leisure cafe just down the street. Jaemin groaned, reprimanding Chenle that it was never part of the plan that they had to hurry off to some cafe that was anywhere but inside the mall.

“But you wanted to be alone right?” Jaemin had his lip zipped, his eyes wandering off to Jeno who was standing right beside him, spectating the surroundings around him, “So…I took that extra step. Have fun!” With that, the line was cut off and there left no space for Jaemin to escape to. Chenle wasn’t kind enough to leave details about the location of the two, as Jaemin deemed that the other two wanted to spend some alone time more.

“I guess they have eloped.” Jaemin breathed, his fingers tightening around the handles of the shopping bag, “You want to go back?”

“To the hotel?” Jeno questioned, whipping his head towards the exit. Jaemin liked to think that Jeno was surprised their time had curtailed to an end, but who knew?

“Unless you don’t want to.” Jaemin shook off his shoulder, and pointed at a ledge standing at an edge to the pillars, so they could sit there for a time to brew. Jeno headed and took a seat at the right while patting the empty space right beside him so that Jaemin could sit. The latter rested on his haunches and incited a tiring sigh along with an audible yawn right after. It attracted a worried stare from Jeno and Jaemin waved it off in between his loud exhale.

“Should we really go back? I have my car back at the parking spot.”

“No. It’s okay. I know you don’t want to go back to that boring hell-hole and I wonder how much time Chenle would take with an  _ oh-so-sweet  _ date.”

“It won’t be boring.” Jeno turned his head straight and glued his eyes to his intertwined fist. Jaemin continued staring at his profile and remembered about the time they had exchanged their passport, and Jeno came back so kindly to give his back. His expression resembled the one he morphed on to his face that night.

“Why?” Jaemin couldn’t help but ask even though he knew the answer.

“I will be with you in the hell-hole, so we can be bored together. I will leave once Chenle comes back. He won’t take much time…I-I can vouch for that. At least, in Jisung’s perspective. You know-”

“It’s okay.” Jaemin managed to reply. The frets should come back soon like old friends, “You like Netflix?”

Jeno jumped on Chenle’s bed, smothering the spare pillow under his tight embrace. Jaemin watched him snuggle his cheeks against the pillow and he wondered if Jeno behaved like that, to rile Jaemin up. Maybe, Jeno was naturally adorably charming like that and for now, Jaemin had a hard time resisting the urge to pat his flop of hair and let Jeno’s blond strands of hair curl along with his finger. Tightly straightening his lips, Jaemin climbed up to his own bed and arranged the pillow behind his back before slumping against it sluggishly.

Jaemin suggested watching a random movie out of the variety of movies the TV provided, and Jeno settled with watching a 1000 won worth of Shinchan. Jaemin agreed that he could bear watching the antics of a raucous five year old go down. The latter mentioned after the screen had dimmed that he had a friend who was a fan of kid shows like that, and Jeno grew up watching those with him. The screen lightened up again, the blaring theme song had rung showing the characters dancing queerly.

For some reason, when Jeno had shared the small anecdote about his childhood, Jaemin felt surprisingly glad. He looked sideways, noticing how Jeno’s face innocently lit up when something humorous unfolded in the screen in front of him. He realized, not only then, not only in the mirror in that OFFWHITE outlet or in the alley down in the hotel, he would like to see him like that. But somehow, in the days that would come by, maybe if he would have the chance, he would like to indulge in that rare look that only he was only allowed to see. The hints of chagrin highlighted on his cheeks, or the faint lust clouding in his eyes, or the hesitance when he looked at him through the mirror, he wanted to cherish those.

Only for now. He wouldn’t be there with him for long. A dreary 7 days long week awaited to end until he had to go back to New York to stay.

Jeno caught his eyes then, and for a moment, Jaemin couldn’t avert his eyes away. Jeno pointed at the screen, which had the program ongoing and Jaemin formed an ‘o’ with his mouth before following his direction his finger pointed at.

“I really don’t like kids shows, you know,” Jaemin mumbled, before looking up back at Jeno. The words went unheard, as Jeno was totally engrossed in the content and for some reason, Jaemin was relieved he didn’t hear. He could enjoy the show for now and keep his preference at the sidelines.

Chenle did come back early, as Jeno had claimed. With two or more plastic bags, filled to the brim with instant food and a huge variety of snacks, Chenle threw those on his bed and plopped back first straight on Jaemin’s bed. He didn’t acknowledge Jeno’s presence yet. Jeno stabbed his fingers at him and mouthed if he knew he was there and Jaemin shrugged. Chenle laid there, with his eyes tightly shut, as his chest rose with soft labored breathing. It was then 4 pm in the afternoon, and he had been outside for too long so he might have been tired.

Jaemin shared looks with Jeno and silently asked if he should nudge Chenle and inform him that Jeno was still here. Jeno nodded and switched the TV off and the ragged tone of the show died down. Jaemin shook Chenle’s shoulder and with a sotto voce he said,

“Chenle…”Chenle groaned, squirming along with the bedsheets, with no intention to pay attention to what Jaemin had to say.

“I want to sleep. I don’t care if it's your bed or not.” Chenle grumbled, turning sideways to rest his head on his arm.

“Chenle, Jeno is here.” Chenle, only then, shot up from his position, mumbling, “where?” under his breath.

“On your bed. He is going to leave.”

Chenle smiled when he noticed Jeno sitting on the edge of his bed, waving at him with a ridiculous face. Chenle imitated him, with his tongue stuck out and one eye twitching. Jaemin laughed in the middle, making a way out of the bed, and stood at the edge of the corridor which would lead to the door.

“If you are done doing your mating dance, Mr.Jeno, please show yourself out.”

“Cool.” Chenle sighed, “Jeno was not going to choose me as his mate anyway.”

Jeno stood up from his bed and was half-way towards Jaemin, when Jaemin blurted, “Why?”

As Jeno met Jaemin under the arch of the corridor, their shoulders coming to meet, only then Chenle exchanged a stare in between the minimum space kept between them. He tilted the corner of his lips resembling a notorious smirk, which meant he was up to something.

“You know why.” He replied simply, before thrashing himself back on the bed and turned sideways. It kindled a warmth rising up Jaemin’s cheeks, as he tried to keep his calm ignoring Chenle’s utterly useless but honest quips. Jaemin knew exactly what Chenle implied and he prayed that Jeno would remain clueless to what Chenle underlined.

Of course, Jeno couldn’t comprehend anything underlying Chenle’s remark except that it was another banter to tick Jaemin off, judging from Jaemin’s baffled expression. Jaemin huffed under his breath, muttering something under his breath before setting off to the front door to escort Jeno out.

He closed the door behind him softly, as he stood silently for Jeno, expecting him to say something. But before he could, Jaemin interrupted.

“Uh-…” Jaemin searched for his reaction, “Were you about to say something?”

“Nope.” Jeno shook his head, as he outstretched his hand gesturing for him to go on. As Jeno noticed the corridor was widely empty, the doors tightly shut, except an inaudible murmur of the boisterousness of a turned on TV.

Jaemin took a deep breath, clearing his throat as he said, “Don’t mind about what Chenle said. He talks nonsense sometimes.”

Jeno couldn’t understand what Jaemin was saying. Was there anything else to Chenle’s statement which he thought was useless to pay mind to? Jeno shrugged, pretending that he knew what Jaemin meant.

“Well…um-” Jeno fished the GUCCI bag from behind his bag and inched it closer to Jaemin. He looked at it, confusedly, with eyebrows meeting in the middle and creases lined up his forehead. Jeno didn’t know what to make of that impression, but he hoped it wasn’t dreadful.

“It might be a little sudden but I noticed that you-you were looking at um-the key rings back at the mall. I know you said that you didn’t especially like these kinds of-” he imitated air-quotes,” ‘kitsch’ materials but I assume-only assume-might be because of your frugality. Judging from the lack of shopping, I guess.”

“Do you mind?” Jaemin stopped Jeno’s rambling mid-way as he gingerly took the bag from his hand, avoiding the slightest graze of fingers, which Jeno desperately wanted. He gave an airy chuckle, opening the small bag, and fished out a black and white painted box, with the brand name displayed proudly on the front. Jaemin, still smiling, rolled the name, “GUCCI” off his mouth, as he grudgingly edged to open the box, to much anxiety on Jeno’s part.

When he finally popped it open, and Jeno tip-toed a bit to see how the key ring was packaged, Jaemin wrung it to the other side, bellowing in laughter. He whispered, “mine” back to him, as he cautiously took the keyring off the GUCCI box’s confinement, and it dangled off in between Jaemin’s fingers. He looked up in awe, and along with a blurred off expression which Jeno wished it was content.

“You like it?” Jeno asked nervously.

In return, Jaemin finally turned around and stirred the familiar keyring in the air, the red snake looking back at him hauntingly, “Why?”

“Well…” he rubbed his nape because he didn’t have any definite answer except one, “…consider this as a gift for our budding friendship. I hope you think of me as one. A friend.”

Obviously, it wasn’t that case at all for Jeno. He only said it out of politeness and the burden of giving an answer to Jaemin’s expected curiosity. You know, showering someone you just met some days ago with a 270 dollar key ring might be too much, even as a simple friendship treaty. Friends were just the pseudo label to appear discouraging or to soften how prodding and sudden it might have felt. But for Jeno, it was a stepping stone for  _ Jaemin to know… _

Jeno walked to the elevator and turned back, to hint a smile as with his other finger he punched the elevator button. Jaemin waved his hand, and beamed widely, mouthing “thank you” with his stretched lips. Jeno ushered Jaemin to go back to his room, as he pointed to the open elevator. Jaemin nodded and went back, shutting the door behind him, the sound vibrating through the corridor to the soles of Jeno’s shoes. The elevator door closed and Jeno sighed.

__

_ …for him to know that he fell for him at first sight. _


	4. i don't want to go home

What surprised Jaemin was how often Jeno and Jisung dropped by their hotel, whether it was to drive them to their destination (which they willingly offered) or to dwell in with drinks and greasy fast food and watch endless Netflix series. Although, so as to appear not desperate, Jisung excused that they did have Netflix back at home (the 1LDK complex he shared with Jeno) but was not bothered enough to fix a broken TV. But Jaemin knew all his frequent drop-ins were to catch Chenle watching TV, messily devour food and flirt around with him.

It felt awkward around their budding romantic relationship and most of the Jeno and Jaemin would exchange glances, as they would indulge in coquettish gestures and they had to tolerate it, while watching the first installment of Lion King. Jaemin was glad in a way that Jeno had to experience those along with him and he didn’t have to suffer alone. The movie was a nugatory attempt to smooth the tension, as Chenle ever so subtly would trail his fingers along Jisung’s arms to throw him off, and bubble off to an awkward ha-ha. Jeno was sitting beside Jaemin, on his bed, a safe amount of space in between to refute the unbridled tension that resided between them.

It irked Jaemin’s nerves, as he heard Chenle’s giggles, which he failed to stifle. Jaemin bent his torso, to look over Jeno’s figure, to make out what those were up to, other than watching the movie. Some animal was dying in the movie, and it was no topic to laugh upon. Jeno wore an impassive expression, watching the movie under his hooded eye as Jaemin studied him for a split second. His mouth was parted ever so slightly, as he took a soft breath to fill in for the silence the movie left. Looking at him reminded him of the keyring attached to the wallet then, and it brought an inexplicable feeling up to his chest that was hard to swallow back down. Jeno might have sensed him staring at him, as he without looking back him said,

“Done looking at them?”

“Well, they are being a distraction. Tell them…” Jaemin slid back to his initial position, “…stop and focus on the movie, then maybe I’ll think about it.”

“You don’t find the movie interesting either, do you?” Jeno chuckled, letting his fingers creep to slightly grazing Jaemin’s hand that laid in between them, “Let them…” he flicked the tip of his finger against his naked palm, “…have fun.” Jaemin tipped his head against the headboard, carrying a taut smile on his lips, and tried not to freak out, as he wrapped his finger around Jeno’s gingerly.

At that point, nobody was even watching the movie, it only acted as background noise to support their thumping chest.

After a while, Jisung stood up from the bed and excused himself to the washroom. Chenle looked back at Jaemin with a smug smile as his nose unreasonably flared. The lights were switched on and the TV was flickered shut, as both of Jeno’s and Jaemin's hands were seized back to their own. Chenle mouthed something, and Jeno lips widened to a big grin, and he quipped,

“I have to headlock that kid once he returns since he has been so daring.”

Jaemin didn’t quite catch what Chenle said, so he poked Jeno’s back which made the latter turn, the smile ceasing to a small line.

“What did he say?”

“He said Jisung kissed him.” It caused something to flip inside Jaemin’s stomach, as he quickly took a peek at Chenle’s flushed face. Jaemin pointed on his own lips, to ask if Jisung kissed Chenle on his lips. But Jeno only snapped his head away, flustered, and repeated that he didn’t know.

“Ah…” Jaemin slumped against the headrest again, a pout forming on his lips, “…its no FUN” he emphasized loudly so that Chenle could hear him, “…if he didn’t kiss him on the LIPS!”

“He would!” Chenle argued back, although Jaemin could sense he wasn’t confident. He knew Jisung sooner or later would kiss Chenle on the lips. Both of them were confident enough to be capable of something so daring, and Jaemin was glad about it. Although in the beginning, he was dubious how their relationship would turn out since they only did meet that day, it seemed their kismet had only tender happenings stored for them. If anything, Jaemin was happy that Chenle could take something worthwhile from that trip.

For Jaemin, it was a work in progress. He was awfully cowardly in dating aspects, and he didn’t meet great endings in his previous relationships back at New York. Somehow, Jeno was easy to accouter as someone he could like despite expected shortcomings. He was mature, contrasting his own immaturity, he could feed into the lack of affection he needed even though he would insist he acquired none. He would be the one to kiss him on his forehead to tell he did great at whatever he would put his mind to, encourage him.

But all of those expectations were too stretched, he thought later when he stood by the door and watched Jisung and Jeno wait for the lift, Chenle waved ever so excitedly at the pair and Jaemin smiled. He only met him a few days ago, to be accurate only 5 days ago. What would a mere 5 days determine?

He suffered a sleepless night then, after a messaging session with Jeno on the phone. He still didn’t change the sobriquet he typed on his phone. Jeno revealed that he was too tired, that he could pass out once he would hit the bed. Jaemin quickly wrote him a ‘Good night’ and told him to sleep in quickly. Before he could lock his phone off, the phone binged in and Jeno’s name was highlighted across the screen,

**when are you leaving?**

**do you want me to leave so desperately?**

**no**

**its been a while since i had fun**

**two or three days later…**

**ill let you know**

**before you go**

**i want to take you somewhere**

**without the clowns**

**ok**

All night, Jaemin could only think of where Jeno wanted to take him and painted scenes in his head, like a hopeless romantic. A walk at the beach would be nice, he deemed. He couldn’t help but smile, as he imagined feeling the waves hugging his ankles as they would stroll down the sandy shore. He sighed, if he continued any further, he wouldn’t be able to sleep, right? The next morning would be inevitable, a car would be waiting outside. Jeno would be inside, would greet them with an usual, unfaltering smile that he would cherish and carve inside his heart, to repeat it again once they would say their goodbyes.  _ We are supposed to visit Namsan Tower, right? _ He mulled, humming softly under his breath,  _ It has been a while since I’ve been there. A long while…wouldn’t it be better if I could ask him to engrave our names on a plastic, pink heart ring and hang it upon on a railing? Or gobble up some chocolates at the top of the tower while tinkering with the binoculars? _

__

Jaemin pressed his face against his pillow tightly, inhaling the smell. He felt shy even thinking about it. He turned to look at Chenle sleeping peacefully beside his bed, exhaling ever so mildly while the sir conditioner admitted a chilly air to concentrate upon their skin. Jaemin pulled the blanket up to his cheek, as he tried to call sleep upon him so that he would look freshened up for tomorrow. But his sleep was too shy to arrive and he knew he wouldn’t gain any if he kept thinking about the next day’s event. So he removed the blanket wrapped up along his thighs, as he sat straight up. Probably a walk around the hotel’s lobby would be better to clear up his thoughts for the meanwhile, a little stretch along his rusty joints would be helpful too.

So after muttering, “I’ll be back,” carefully against Chenle’s ears, so as to not wake him up fully, he wrung the door open, plunging the card in his pocket and phone in the other. He quietly shut the door behind him and tip-toed to the lift, as he pressed the button. The lift dinged open in the dead silence of the night, and for a minute Jaemin felt scared. Not to say, a bit lonely.

A can of chocolate and then he would leave, he decided. The lift slammed open and there was only one receptionist left, who bowed to him as soon as he saw him. Jaemin returned the bow with a polite nod and walked up to the vending machine that stood proudly and had each of the drinks highlighted. There was the famous Milkis, Pocaris, some coffee brands, and some chocolate brand. He tapped the chocolate one and inserted a 5000 won inside, which the vending machine ate right away.

The drink rolled out smoothly, as Jaemin bent down to take it out of the flap. He clicked the can open and sat down on the couch, and without much thought, took a sip of the thick chocolate drink. It had been a while since he had some. It had the mild taste of milk, the reminiscence of Ghana bars, and a sickly sweet smell which he couldn’t get enough of. He looked at the window, which displayed nothing but an empty street.

But for him, it was the backdrop for his memories to play out. How Jeno had come running towards him, passport held tightly in his hands and a smile adorning his lips. His blonde locks played out that of a foreign actor, and it would be an understatement if he said his heart didn’t start galloping at the sight. He kept his meekness and composure and approached him that night.

_ What if their passport didn’t get exchanged? _

__

Jaemin held his knees tighter against his torso, as he kept sipping the chocolate milk. A message came to his phone and he wished if it was Jeno, who magically could sense that he was awake. It was impossible, but he could dream.

**where are you**

**downstairs**

**lobby**

**go to sleep :|**

**i cant**

**coming down**

**wait**

Chenle was always adamant, too wayward to listen to Jaemin. But when the time came, he would often agree with what Jaemin had to say. Even when they had to do their university project, he would always seek out his opinion. He considered himself lucky that he found Chenle, a piece of home.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?” Chenle yawned as he walked from the ajar lift. He nodded back as the receptionist bowed to him as he greeted him with, “You’ve worked hard. Fighting!” The receptionist chuckled and punched a fist in the air, which Chenle imitated with glee. Chenle took his seat beside Jaemin, collecting his legs on the sofa, his pajamas creased up on his calves. He flaunted a gray one, which he bought the previous day from Muji. Jaemin had his own shabby blue ones from Target.

“So, tell me. Are you thinking about Jeno?” Chenle coked his eyebrows teasingly and Jaemin stuck out his tongue at him. He exhaled gravely and shook his head.

“More about our school projects.”

“The ones you passed cum laude.” Chenle rolled his eyes and showed him his palm, “Don’t talk to me. I worked hard on it. At least, with your help, I passed with an A.”

“I am a good teacher, right?” Jaemin scrunched his nose and pinched Chenle’s cheeks. The latter only swatted his hand away, rubbing his skin with knitted eyebrows.

“Tell me something,” Chenle asked in fluent English, something he rarely did even when he was in New York. He was more comfortable speaking Korean with him, even though his mother language was Chinese. He said when he was a kid, some Korean guests visited his house often, and being the extroverted he was, went up to talk to them. He might have picked it up then. But his enunciation and vocabulary were polished for the better, when he started talking to Jaemin during their university courses, “Tell me anything.”

“What do you want me to tell you?” Jaemin retorted as he crunched up the chocolate can under his grip since he dunked everything out of it.

“Say…” Chenle switched back to Korean, “Do you like Jisung?”

“He’s fine. I think.” Jaemin shrugged, “Although, there is nothing wrong being careful. I think he’s great since he has been taking great care of you and there is nothing suspicious about him. As of yet.”

“He did show me pictures of his family. He has an older brother who got married last year. Quite a looker.”

“What about Jeno? Did he tell you anything about himself?”

“Except that he likes Shinchan,” Jaemin laughed and looked at his fumbling fingers curled around the distorted can, “Nope. We…are not that close like you guys are. You hit it off, right off the bat. So…no.”

“Did you know he speaks French?”

“Ah…that adds up to his French kink. His cafe was an actual reflection of his kink, the magazines, and whatnot. Don’t tell him that, on second thought. He might think otherwise.”

“I won’t.” Chenle patted his back, “Jisung told me that they were neighbors before, and then classmates and moved on being roommates. Jeno is a single child and he used to go traveling the world a lot when he was younger. He likes sports-”

“Do you mind not telling me these?”

“I thought you wanted to know.” Chenle shifted his weight to his left arm and tilted his body as he judged him suspiciously.

“I do. But not from you but Jeno.”

“Jeno.” Chenle hummed deeply as he fell against the sofa, pouting his lips, “Do you want him to know about you?”

“What do you mean?” Jaemin craned his neck to look at him, and the dim light above the reception highlighted his brown, dried up locks.

“You know-about…”Chenle gestured vaguely, “…You know what I am talking about.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“Talk about yourself and deserve knowing about him. It always doesn’t work one way.”

Jaemin went up to his bed, with more thoughts than before. But he could sleep peacefully then. He guessed the chocolate milk had done its works. Once his head met the rough fabric of the cushion, for once he could think that maybe, he would like to get to know Jeno better by telling him all about himself. Even though he had everything yet nothing to tell.

Next day entailed a visit to the observatory tower, Namsan Tower. It was erect upon a steep hill and as Jeno has suggested, were buzzing with tourists. Jaemin had found no use of visiting it, since he had been there once when he was a kid. But Chenle was hopping in glee when he had found out about the cheesy antics the couples wrapped themselves upon. Writing on plastic slates, sharing churros, watching couples huddling together with their arms linked. Chenle always had an interest for romantic gestures, and now that he could finally try it out, he couldn’t wait.

On the other hand, Jaemin had enough of it. He didn’t like romantic bravado reserved for any day. Adoration must be constant, despite whatever or wherever they have been. Scribbling names down with a pen and hanging it off a tree branch, seemed useless and a waste of time, if you were not going to try it with your own effort. Taking the extra step, to show off how much you love someone by that, was just pointless. But, for then, just for Chenle’s sake, he relented with a sigh. With a glance at Jeno’s lifted up cheekbones and wide grin, he knew he had done it for the best.

They decided to stop for lunch at Jeno’s cafe before heading for Namsan Tower during the night hours. Jisung commented that you could see an amazing night view from the infamous cable car ride. He asked Chenle and Jaemin to especially charge their phone because he knew their jaw would drop once they would come with it. Chenle and Jisung were giddy and excited as they made plans on their notebook, noting down the places they intended to visit, along with what foods they would buy and devour. Jaemin sat beside Chenle, overlooking their innocent scribbles and doodles spread along the blank page before Jeno came in with a tray, with a variety of food, all ripped off their own menu.

“Did you bring all of what your menu offered?” Jaemin broke the chopsticks in half, “I swear I’m not the critic you think I am.”

Jeno pulled the chair back, and took the seat beside Jisung. He jokingly snatched the pen from Jisung’s hand and wrote down something. Jaemin squinted his eyes to read the words but only could figure out “I” and “take” from the blurry string of words. He gave up midway, saying that he had bad eyesight.

“He wrote,” Jisung handled the notebook mid-air, showing off the pages filled with silly coloring and letters, not even sparing an empty space, “that he would like to take you out. It says-”

_ I would like to take you out. _

__

“Ah.” Jaemin chuckled, “Jeno wrote that tease you, right? You want to take Chenle out, right?”

Jeno hummed. Jisung pulled the notebook back on the table and without another word, he continued scribbling like before. They talked in hushed tones as Chenle instructed him about what to write to next. It was awkward probably. Jeno resisted making eye contact, even when Jaemin had told him the sandwich was delicious. He kept eyes cast down on the menu, and read the contents of it over and over again. He shouldn’t have dodged his comment like that.

Jaemin wasn’t sure how to make it right.

“Finally!” Jisung took a swig off his watch and flashed it off to Chenle and Jaemin, “it’s time. Just the right time. Come on, Jeno-” he pushed Jeno out with his leg and he made way to the exit, “-start your damn car.”

The sky outside had visibly darkened, and Jaemin could make out the dust of stars revealing itself slowly, among the streaks of light gray clouds. Jeno passed by him, but he didn’t say a word. He opened the door, and Chenle sneaked in the back with Jisung. Jaemin fumbled outside the car awkwardly, while Jeno had made his way to the front of the car. Jeno got inside the car and slammed the door behind him. Jaemin wanted to eat his words back up. Chenle rolled down the windows and hollered,

“Don’t be a meat skewer and squeeze yourself among us. Sit at the front. He will like it.” Chenle said with a grin and those words consoled the heaviness and timidness Jaemin felt. He cleared his throat and ducked his head in the front seat. It felt slightly bizarre to sit at the front, right beside Jeno where he could see him so clearly. He was so near, so much nearer than the first day he met his eyes through the peer glasses.

He saw how his jaws tightened, or how alerted he became as Jaemin slumped against the leather seat, puckering a sigh. He pointed at the seat belt, and Jaemin nodded, slinging the belt over his chest. However, the buckle was stubborn to lock in, as he couldn’t find the right slot. Jeno, looked over at him struggling as he carefully leaned in towards him and took the buckle from his hand. Jaemin could feel Jeno’s cold fingertips faintly grazing his knuckles, as he determined the buckle in the slot. Once the belt was locked in, he backed up and rested against his seat.

“Thank you.” Jaemin breathed out.

“Sorry for what you guys have to hear,” Jeno turned around and said to which the guys at the back nodded in unison before diverting his eyes back at Jaemin, “But, Jaemin, I really want to take you out.”

“That was so direct.” “Oh my god, I’m cringing. Like those dramas in TVs, it gives me goosebumps.”

Jaemin didn’t know what to say or think. He didn’t know Jeno would come across so bluntly. He looked back at him, baffled and his lips slagging down. Words ceased to come, his lips opened and closed as he simply stared at Jeno’s expectant face. He felt guilty because for what mattered, even if he did say something, it would come out gibberish. For once, he wanted to blab a word or two, but his words constrained him to do so.

“I…”Jeno sighed wearily and it pricked every part of Jaemin’s skin. Jaemin’s lips were sealed, not even a whimper, or a declaration of protest came out. Chenle looked at Jaemin confusedly, as if thinking ‘is he not going to say something.’ and Jisung on the other hand, had his hands fumbling in the air as if looking for an excuse. Just so, Jeno would give Jaemin a chance to deny whatever he had assumed from that silence. But that never came. What came was harsher but obscured in a strained smile.

“...It’s okay. You don’t need to.” Jeno turned around again, studying their disappointed, fallen expressions, “Sorry you had to see this, guys. Never thought I would get rejected in front of Jisung.” Chuckling, he added, “It was always the other way around.”

What seemed to be a lighthearted comment, projected itself as a failed attempt to cheer up the sappy atmosphere. Jaemin could hear both of them shuffling in the back and Chenle slumping against the seat with a grave heave. Jisung snuggled close to him, as Jaemin scrutinized from the reflection on the sleek stereo.  _ The streets always have a bit of charm, _ Jaemin thought as he turned his focus on the packed scenery outside,  _ maybe the sightseeing would efface the itching feeling that is clogging up my chest right now. _

__

Jeno never dared to throw him a glance and kept his gaze concentrated on the road in front. Jaemin had his hands huddled in between his legs, awfully sticky and perspired. He should have said something, he said to himself like a chant. The scene kept repeating itself in his mind, his heart unbelievably running across meadows. The hurt in his eyes, or how subtly his lips trembled and the disappointment collecting in the crease of his eyebrows. He leaned his head on the window, creating a soft thud as he enticed a faint sigh. Sighs were numerous, as Jisung and Chenle couldn’t help but repeat after themselves like a contagious yawn.

It was Jaemin’s fault that the mood was soiled. It was even Chenle’s first visit to Namsan Tower.  _ It wa _ s, Jaemin looked beside him and watched how Jeno’s cheekbones tensed,  _ their first visit to Namsan Tower. When does the time entail that it was too late for him to submit an apology? Or to correct himself? _ Jaemin was caught so suddenly in the spur of the moment that he couldn’t concatenate the proper answer. Maybe that he was nervous to answer.  _ Will it be a proper excuse _ …Jaemin looked back at his hands knotted in a tight grip… _ for Jeno to accept? _

The ignition of the cars stopped abruptly for Jaemin to find themselves in a parking lot. They had arrived and for a whole lot of the trip, Jaemin was preoccupied with his thoughts that he couldn’t even interpret the scenery laid outside. The night had howled upon the sky, engulfing themselves in merciless and deadly darkness. When Jaemin looked back, he found a guard post, the fluorescent lights blinking ceaselessly. He didn’t even notice when he had passed by the post.

Jeno knocked the gear over and slipped out of the restraining belt over his chest. Looking over at him, Jaemin realized he had to unlock his. But as he ransacked the buckled, it was stubborn to unlock. Jeno grumbled and inched his hands over his.

“Let me help.” Jaemin let his hands go and Jeno took care of the rest.

The belt retrieved itself swiftly and in a while, Jaemin felt like he could breathe. He shouldn’t be the one burdening the excuses on the tightened belt over his chest but he was left with no one else to blame. In the back, Chenle and Jisung petered in laughter, blabbering indistinctly about something. Probably, holding the sobriquet for being the party popper, he should let them be. He grabbed the belt again and straightened it over his chest and Jeno stared at him, taken aback.

“Can you two go without me?” He said without looking back before pointing at Jeno, “I do need him here. Can you two enjoy without us? It’s a nice place and look out for the bear gummies I told you about.”

“We planned-” Jisung interrupted Chenle with an overexcited, “Okay!” Only then Chenle discerned what Jaemin meant and mumbled out a “Fine. I was really looking forward to enjoying it with you.”

“We can do it some other time.” He looked at Jeno then and smiled, “Right?”

“Right.”

‧₊˚✩ 彡

**_“Do you think they will be alright?”_ **

****

**_The view under them felt like they were walking on galaxies._ **

****

**_“They will be okay. I am glad Jaemin took the initiative. I thought he would never.”_ **

****

**_“He isn’t very daring, is he?”_ **

****

**_“Not really. I guess that is his charm.”_ **

****

**_“What is my charm?”_ **

****

**_“To be.”_ **

__

‧₊˚✩ 彡

__

“So, why did we stay back?” Jeno snapped his head back against the headrest, staring at him from the corner of his eyes. Jaemin took in a sharp inhale, biting his lips as his hands curled around his own thigh.

“Can we visit the place you wanted us to go? The one you said you wanted to take me before I leave.” Jaemin mumbled, breath hitching as over-thinking spiraled in his head like a cursed hamster wheel.  _ Was he asking too much?  _ But soon, as the car grumbled under his soles, those brooding thoughts abstained and he could finally take a breather and string the words he wanted to say to him next.

“It’s going to be a long drive. So buckle up.” Jeno said plainly, tightening his lips right after. Jaemin could only hum, and he could sense Jeno was still worked up from the unfortunate debacle he, himself was responsible for. He didn't know how to end both of their sufferings on a pragmatic end without being a teeny tiny mean. He was looking out for both of them.

At least, that was what he considered.

‧₊˚✩ 彡

**_“Chenle…” Jisung beckoned him, as Chenle trailed behind him slowly, ascending the steep stairs._ **

****

**_“Yeah, wait a bit.”_ **

****

**_“You are taking way too long.” Jisung lent him his hand, which Chenle took happily and he met him in one stair._ **

****

**_“Jisung…can you be my boyfriend now?”_ **

****

**_Jisung just smiled and kept holding his hand as they walked up the stairs._ **

‧₊˚✩ 彡

****

They had reached a shoreline, creeping upon the corners of Daecheon-Dong. It took approximately 5 hours, and the clock warned them how they had traversed over 12 am in the night. Jaemin had mostly caught up on radio silence served between Jeno and him. Although, purposely, Jeno seemed to have dodged every question Jaemin shot in the air. Perhaps, he was still keeping his end of the bargaining.

Jeno only made an excuse at a point when Jaemin popped up, “How long is this trip going to take?”

“Another 1 hour…” he said as he noticed they had reached the 3-hour mark, “I am not giving my word for it although. The tolls are a nuisance and I have to pay at least 5000 won no matter what pace I go. I can’t guarantee it, really.”

“Okay.”

“Are you bored?” His eyes were still on the road, but Jaemin noticed how Jeno would slightly move his eyes, so as to gaze at him for a split second. He kept it within himself; he didn’t want Jeno an excuse to do otherwise and leave him in complete silence.

It made him happy.

“No.” Jaemin tugged the corners of his coats’ collars around him, “Do you mind if I sleep?”

“Yes.” That took Jaemin off-guard, “I will be lonely. The point of me, taking you there was for you to enjoy the road trip. With me. Alone. But we are…” he emphasized deeply, “…alone. If you sleep, I will feel like this trip is only for me.”

“Okay. I will stay awake then.”

The rest of the road remained silent history. Cold, and immensely out of place. Jaemin couldn’t comprehend what to do with his flailing arms, or the loose fit of the jean jacket he bought the other day over his shoulders. All he could think of, all that brewed on his mind was what was circling in Jeno’s head, in the pretense of his impassiveness?

The car whimpered close to the edge of the shore, a small parking lot reserved for late lovers to indulge in the private, chilly air of the sea. The saltiness took its place in the whirls of the winds that coiled around Jaemin’s neck, branching to his nostrils. The ever so familiar smell of the sea. It reminded him of the seaport, cargo ships lining up in Manhattan and sighed inwardly as if it felt a memory so insignificant. A memory he had to return in a matter of 3 days. He had relished the last seconds of the time spent together with him so that when he would look back, he would only remember him.

Their shoes dig in the feathery sand, as Jeno confessed there were so security guards nearby. Nightguards are often careless, he said and they could care less who trespassed in the whim hours of the night. Jaemin hummed, as they neared the repelling tides of the sea, leaving rocks of salt as a stingy reminder. The stubborn sand caught on the shells of crabs, numerous empty seashells and reminiscence of random scenes trapped in time. The rough, choppy waves surge, as the howls and whimpers echo in their mind. It crashed near Jaemin’s soles, becoming nothing but a plain of rushed salty water, drenching the sand in damp darkness. Jaemin stumbled back, finding himself in the constraint of Jeno’s arm, which was spread to catch him.

He bit back an exhale. Jeno smiled as he escaped from behind his back and found a place beside him. It seemed he found his tranquility in between scrutinizing the sea and the awe that splayed across Jaemin’s face, as he watched the sea perform the play of their life. The enchanting turquoise found its way to Jaemin’s ankles again, and drenched the end of his expensive shoes. Jaemin pointed helplessly and Jeno held his wrist and tugged him backward. They walked in silence, it was preferred then. The foaming ends ebbed away, as they kept their pace constant while their legs took them, God knew where.

“You like it?” Jeno asked his tone tailing expectation. A little pitched, yet maintaining his usual softness. It seemed his harbored feelings of dismay rubbed away with the relentless wind of the seashore.

“This place?” Jaemin’s smile was a bit awry, “Not going to lie, but I despised beaches in general from when I was a kid. Manhattan’s seaport didn’t help either. I was living there, in a tiny, cramped up apartment and all I could smell was fishes. But today…” He let his fingers touch Jeno’s sleeves, “…I found myself not caring anymore. Sounds awfully cringeworthy-”

“It doesn’t.”

“It does.” Jaemin shrugged, keeping his eyes focused on the askew levels of the earth beneath his feet, “I am sorry about earlier. I embarrassed you, didn’t I?”

“Of course you did.” There was no censoring of words that might perturb Jaemin. He didn’t cover his chagrin or his usual discontent he felt. Jaemin was relieved. Jeno continued with a sigh, “When I asked you out, I thought for sure the answer would be inevitably yes. There was no scenario where I could see you deny my feelings. Of course, I should have considered an alternative and I feel like a fool for not doing so. In a way, it's not your fault.”

“It’s my fault. I feel like I’ve led you on. You didn’t misread my feelings though, I know I should have said yes. But- it has been a while. I look like a bastard saying this.” Jeno grabbed Jaemin’s hands and plunged into his coat pocket. He shook his head vehemently as he said, “Don’t say that.”

“I have a note of excuse ready somewhere.” Jaemin chuckled grimly, “I should be ready to recite it now.”

“I am willing to hear it.”

“The last time I actually had a boyfriend was like 10 years ago. I don’t remember how I acted that time. But when you proposed to take me out, I forgot how I should act, what I should say or how I should turn you down without hurting you. Believe me, I don’t want to turn you down. Experiences I think shapes your present and my past remains a boulder in the sorts of ways that make me reluctant to look for potential relationships. Jeno…”

“It’s okay. Just say.” Jeno squeezed his hands, embraced in his warmth.

“I have known you for a few days and I don’t even know you. But I know I shouldn’t be the one to say that because I am helplessly falling for you. I like you a lot.” Jaemin croaked out a whimper, “But I…am returning home in 3 days' time. I won’t see you then, so what should I do then? Forget all this…the time I indulged in feelings with you. I would have played with you and me, and I wouldn’t like that. LDR does not have good prospects.”

“So stay.”

Jaemin tightly smiled and that was the time, he swung his head to look at Jeno properly. He stretched his hand to faintly caress his cheek, “I can’t. You know it, too. But, I want to say now,”  _ that I’m looking at you so closely, at my arm’s length,  _ “Thank you for finding me.”

‧₊˚✩ 彡

****

**_“What do you think they are up to?”_ **

****

**_Jisung clutched Chenle’s body close to him, keeping his arms hanging from his shoulder._ **

**_They were aware to keep distance so the other wouldn’t pass them dirty looks._ **

****

**_“Talking to each other.”_ **

****

**_“Like us? But I still would have liked it if they came with us.”_ **

****

**_“But I’m glad they let us be. So that I can be here with you. Alone.”_ **

****

‧₊˚✩ 彡

****

Jeno pressed his cheeks back against his palm, relishing the warmth he held on his skin. The sea cries for attention in the back but they paid no one. That time, that stood still right then was all it mattered.

“But-” Jaemin removed his hands back to his hand, and Jeno missed it again, “-I’ll obviously keep in touch. I’ll make sure to call you every day, night here in Korea. I’ll be putting my utmost effort to get back to you.”

“I’ll do the same because even though you rejected me now, I still like you very much so.” Jeno pulled out both of their hands from his pocket, and rested his hands on Jaemin’s waist, tugging him close. Jaemin could feel his breath coming closer on his lips, but he didn’t pull his face away. But Jeno didn’t beeline for his lips, as Jaemin thought with eyes squeezed closed in nervousness, and chastely grazed his cheeks with his chapped ones. He lingered there, his arms enclosing around his waist, tightly coiled. Jaemin slung his arms around Jeno’s shoulder and breathed in the sling of saltiness that found solitary there. Jeno found his way to the crevice of his neck and stayed there, pressing a soft kiss there on the bare skin slipping away from his tee.

They swayed their body from left to right, making Jaemin laugh with his head tipped back. His hands were still clutching on to Jeno’s loose gingham shirt and as the sea reached them, Jaemin for once, felt like he could reach Jeno.

They took a seat along the farthest space, just beside a short pier. They found themselves wrapped in the might of the enchanting sea, with their knees propped up to their chest and hands curled in front of them. They sat with a mindful gap in between them as if another person could be in between them. They both continued the silence from before, words being said and revealed.

However, Jaemin ears perked up at a sharp exhale that Jeno uttered, readying himself for saying something.

“Jaemin, do you know something? I don’t know if Chenle had spilled this to you yet…”

Jaemin unknowingly took an exhale, his eyes still reluctantly fixed on the uninterrupted tempting of the sea waves.

“But…”Jeno gave a chuckle before continuing, “We actually boarded the same flight. That day, Jisung and I, we both came from a small trip from the US.”

“I didn’t notice you.”

“Neither did I.”

Jaemin shifted, to turn around and face Jeno properly. He wanted to remember, engrave that time spent between them in his mind for kingdom come.

“You know…”Jaemin mumbled, “For the first time in a long while, I don’t want to go home.”


	5. epilogue: thank you for finding me

Jeno waited for Jaemin in the airport arrivals. Jaemin did say he wouldn’t take much time, but he might lose that bit of commitment in the immigration. Jeno brushed him off then, in the phone call, saying that it was okay. Jeno glanced at his watch, he had been waiting for a hefty 2 hours for now. He didn’t mind though because he would finally meet Jaemin after a long while.

Jeno remembered the last day, He sent Jaemin off with a cold handshake and a wilted smile. It was nothing personal, but he couldn’t bear it. Did he expect that perhaps Jaemin would stay back for him if he asked him out? Yes...it was a bit foolish but he believed so. Jaemin’s destination at the end was irrevocable and he had to leave no matter what, but somewhere, deep inside Jeno’s heart, he didn’t want it so. Among the crowds, Jeno watched him leave. 

Looking back, the faithful incident in which they had tied their fates together wasn’t so bad. Even though all Jeno had suffered out of it was a stubbed toe and a slightly broken heart. Every curve of the road, Jeno was glad that he kept coming back to Jaemin. Whether it was Jaemin experiencing a lack of taxis on a hot summer day, or if it was their passports getting exchanged or even if it was Jeno spending his month’s worth of savings on a keyring. He felt that those times were important, even though standing as minuscule in the grand scheme of things,

During the long-distance and the time stretched among them, Jaemin kept his promise for maintaining their relationship even though he was overseas. He made sure to call every now and then, although some calls were ought to go missed. Chenle and Jisung were _all in_ their relationship, and of course, Chenle called more often than Jaemin ever did. Jeno was sometimes jealous but he separated both of their relationships, titling them different. Jaemin savored his privacy and Jeno was more than willing to give him his time to get used to it.

It wasn’t a particular LDR they were having, even though they have confessed their feelings earlier.They knew what the other wanted, and they kept it at that. As Jaemin said, they wanted to know each other more, like and dislikes, names of their pets (or lack thereof), what they were up to or anything. Jaemin revealed himself more than ever too, he talked about his past and the relationships he had, which were safe to say insignificant then.

A call came to Jeno’s phone as it blinked and vibrated notoriously on his thigh. He received it quickly but what came on the other side was unexpected. Jaemin shakily described how the immigration officers weren't allowing him in.

“They said they were having a problem identifying my past incoming to Korea. So I am in a bit of a blunder now. You can leave if you want.”

“No…”Jeno insisted, “I will stay.”

“It can take a while.”

“It’s okay.”

Jeno was worried, shitless as he nervously tugged on the stray piece of thread unwinding from his stressed jeans. He grabbed the steering wheel, imagining helpless scenes of Jaemin being caught in the airport fiasco, and how he was facing it with the officers there. They tend to be strict and ‘what if’s lined up in Jeno’s mind like dominoes, which would be tilting over anytime now. But it didn’t, as he heard a knock on his window. He wondered if it was a guard, looking forward to ticketing him for another hour.

But what met was Jaemin’s tired and sagging smile, which edged on being teasing. He was there, after so long. He thought if he was released early. The GUCCI keyring hanging for its dear life on the side of his backpack was more than visible as if taunting Jeno of the times they spent together. More or so cringy than taunting but Jeno was glad he could muster his courage to give it to him. It remained a keepsake of both of them, those jittery and apprehensive times. But then again,

“I was kidding.” He announced after Jeno rolled off the window, “I wasn’t held back.”

“This is the first thing you say to me after you come back in a year?” Jeno feigned to be upset, keeping his voice plain, “Can’t say I like it.”

“Sorry. Was I too mean?”

“You could have said you missed me or something.”

“I love you. Does that work?”

Jeno opened the front door as quickly as he could and jumped off the car. He clutched Jaemin by his waist and planted a kiss on Jaemin’s lips. He locked Jaemin’s lips in between and channeled all of his labored feelings of missing him on the prints of it. Jaemin synced his lips with his and proceeded to chastely meet his feelings with his, halfway. 

With a breath, they split away with Jaemin’s forehead touching his, “Finally.” Jaemin nodded, and Jeno couldn’t help but promised another on his nose. Their hands stay around each others’ figure, taking in the curves and crevasses they couldn’t take in before, memorizing every inch of their skin under their finger pads.

“I love you too.”

  
  



End file.
